Indore/Bhopal, Sep 23 Traders across Madhya Pradesh observed a “No UPI Day” on Wednesday to protest the Centre’s decision to impose a 0.4 per cent fee on UPI transactions over Rs 2,000 by covering the QR codes at their shops with black cloth.
The protesters appealed to customers to make payments in cash.
Ramesh Khandelwal, president of the Ahilya Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a federation of trade organisations, claimed that their members in Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Ratlam, Neemuch, Mandsaur, and Jaora participated in the ‘No UPI Day’ campaign.
According to the Central government, a merchant discount rate (MDR) of 0.4 per cent will be levied on person-to-merchant transactions above Rs 2,000 from October 15. However, no MDR is to be levied on UPI transactions up to Rs 2,000.
Citing the broader interests of traders and consumers, Akshay Jain, president of the Indore Retail Garments Association, said the Centre should immediately withdraw the decision to impose the MDR.
“If this decision is not withdrawn before October 15, traders will immerse UPI QR code machines in water bodies,” he said.
In Jabalpur, Nagrik Upbhokta Margdarshak Manch’s PG Najpande said that UPI charges have been imposed on citizens without inviting objections.
“The Central Government decided to levy charges on UPI payments exceeding Rs 2,000 under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. Before making this decision, the government should have invited objections within 30 days as mandated by Section 10 of the Act; however, the charges were imposed without doing so,” he said.
Najpande said that although the Union government claims the burden of UPI charges will not fall on the common citizen, past experience shows that any levy eventually comes out of the pockets of the general public. Similarly, UPI charges will also be collected from consumers.
Members of civil society organisations gathered at the Civic Centre to stage a protest and distributed pamphlets regarding “No UPI Day” to shopkeepers and citizens.
In Bhopal, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) staged a symbolic “No UPI Day” protest. They “blacked out” the UPI QR codes at their establishments to emphasise that they are not opposed to UPI itself, but to the additional MDR cost.
Dharmendra Sharma, District President of CAIT Bhopal, remarked that while MDR stands for “Merchant Discount Rate,” traders fail to see where the “discount” actually lies.
Traders are sarcastically questioning why the charge isn’t simply termed “MTR” or Merchant Tax Rate if a fee is indeed being levied on them.
“We are not against UPI. Our opposition is directed at the additional cost of the MDR imposed on UPI transactions,” he added.
The government has clarified that customers will not be charged any additional amount due to the changes to the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) system, which remained completely fee-free for nearly six years.
Customers will not have to pay any fee for making such payments through UPI, the Finance Ministry had said.
(PTI News)
