Mobile retailers to observe October 2 as ‘No UPI Day’ over MDR charge

Mobile phone retailers across India plan to observe October 2 as "No UPI Day" to protest the 0.4 per cent merchant discount rate on eligible UPI transactions. AIMRA said the charge could significantly increase costs for small retailers nationwide

New Delhi: Mobile phone retailers across India plan to observe October 2 as “No UPI Day” in protest against the 0.4 per cent merchant discount rate (MDR) charge on UPI transactions, a senior official of industry body AIMRA said.

The government has introduced a 0.4 per cent fee on UPI transfers exceeding Rs 2,000 to merchants from October 15, while exempting person-to-person transactions as well as small payments from any charges.

---

“The All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) has called for a ‘NO UPI DAY’ on October 2, 2026, to highlight the concerns of mobile retailers regarding the 0.4 per cent Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) applicable to eligible merchant UPI transactions,” AIMRA Vice President and President for the Delhi-NCR region Tarvinder Singh said in a statement.

He said retailers will symbolically cover UPI QR codes with black cloth and refrain from accepting UPI payments on Gandhi Jayanti.

According to a representation sent to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman by AIMRA, the move to impose MDR on UPI will lead to an immediate net monthly loss of Rs 2,000 to Rs 12,000 for a small retailer processing Rs 5 lakh to Rs 30 lakh monthly via UPI, thereby wiping out a substantial portion of their net income.

The mobile retailers’ body estimates that a 0.4 per cent MDR will impose an unsustainable burden of approximately Rs 40 crore per month and nearly Rs 500 crore per annum on small mobile retailers across India.

“If We Want Digital India, UPI Must Remain Zero MDR. This is not a protest against UPI or Digital India. Our concern is the additional financial burden being placed on merchants who accept digital payments. If we want Digital India to grow further, digital payments should remain affordable for the entire retail ecosystem. Our clear demand is that UPI merchant payments should continue under a Zero MDR structure,” Singh said.