UPI Payment Blackout: Mobile Retailers to Cover QR Codes on Gandhi Jayanti
The All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) for Delhi NCR has announced that mobile phone retailers will symbolically cover UPI QR codes with black cloth and refuse UPI payments on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, to protest against Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges on UPI transactions. The protest highlights growing discontent among retailers over the lack of MDR relief, despite UPI being a zero-cost payment mode for merchants since 2020.
Mobile phone retailers across Delhi NCR will observe a symbolic protest on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, by covering UPI QR codes with black cloth and refusing to accept UPI payments, the All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) announced on Tuesday. The protest is against the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges imposed on UPI transactions, which retailers argue eat into their thin margins.
The protest comes amid a long-standing demand by traders to either waive MDR on UPI or provide a subsidy to compensate for the charges. While the government mandated zero MDR on UPI and RuPay debit card transactions from January 2020, retailers claim that banks and payment aggregators often levy MDR indirectly or through other charges. AIMRA represents thousands of mobile phone retailers in the Delhi NCR region, a key market for smartphone sales in India.
The symbolic protest on Gandhi Jayanti is expected to draw attention to the retailers' plight and could disrupt UPI payments at mobile phone stores for a day. If the government does not address their concerns, retailers may escalate their agitation, potentially impacting digital payment adoption in the retail sector. The development underscores the ongoing tension between digital payment promoters and merchants over transaction costs.
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