Merchant Discount Rates MDRs

Brokers in discussion with the market regulator as the charge raises operational cost

Petroleum dealers have sought exemption from MDR on UPI fuel purchases above Rs 2,000, warning that the additional transaction cost could put pressure on prescribed dealer margins

UPI apps say their Rs 1 share from a Rs 5 MDR on larger bill payments will not cover Bharat Bill Payment System commissions, while smaller transactions earn nothing at all

It is worth seeing the argument from a perspective that does not limit itself to asking how UPI infrastructure costs ought to be funded

The debate over UPI pricing is shifting as zero-MDR strains the ecosystem, raising questions over who should bear costs and whether a calibrated MDR can sustain digital public infrastructure

Potential UPI MDR could boost revenues for dominant players like PhonePe and Paytm, while giving smaller apps a viable path to profitability and customer acquisition

Only about 4% of UPI merchant transactions may attract an MDR under the proposed law, while all person-to-person UPI payments will remain free

Private sector lender Axis Bank on Wednesday said government mandates on the payments space ensure that no one can make money in the segment. The bank's chief executive and managing director Amitabh Chaudhry feared that smaller entities will not be able to survive amid such diktats. The comments from Axis Bank, which also runs the payments company Freecharge, come amid a debate on whether merchant discount rate (MDR) should be levied on the very popular UPI platform. The government, which wants to popularise digital payments, has been insisting that no charges should be levied. "What the government is doing is that they're taking out the entire P&L (profit and loss) opportunity for us. So if you look at the payments space, no one can make any money in the country at all. You have to use payments as a platform to make money somewhere else," Chaudhry said at the Global Fintech Fest here. The worry is that more and more of such demands will emerge, which will take away revenue and ...

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Companies with turnover of over Rs 50 crore to pay Rs 5,000 per day as penalty

Plan to lobby with the RBI & government, threaten protest