Uproar against UPI charges! Mobile shopkeepers announce ‘No UPI Day’ on October 2..

A senior official from the industry body AIMRA stated that mobile phone retailers across India are planning to observe a "No UPI Day" on October 2 to protest against the 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charge on UPI transactions. The government has imposed a 0.4% fee on UPI transfers exceeding ₹2,000 made to merchants, effective October 15, while exempting personal-to-personal transactions and small payments from any charges. Here is what the mobile retailers have to say about this matter.

**Announcement of ‘No UPI Day’**
Tarvinder Singh, Vice President of AIMRA and President of the Delhi-NCR region, stated that the All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) has called for the observance of ‘No UPI Day’ on October 2, 2026. This move aims to highlight the concerns of mobile retailers regarding the 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) applicable to eligible merchant UPI transactions. He added that on Gandhi Jayanti, retailers would cover their UPI QR codes with black cloth and refuse to accept UPI payments.

**Significant Loss for Shopkeepers**
According to a memorandum sent by AIMRA to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the imposition of MDR on UPI transactions would cause an immediate monthly loss of ₹2,000 to ₹12,000 for small retailers generating monthly UPI-based business volumes between ₹5 lakh and ₹30 lakh; this would wipe out a substantial portion of their total income. The mobile retailers' body estimates that the 0.4% MDR will impose a financial burden of approximately ₹40 crore per month—and around ₹500 crore annually—on small mobile retailers across India, a cost that would be difficult for them to bear.

This is a major demand.

Singh stated that if we want a 'Digital India,' the MDR on UPI transactions must remain at zero. This is not an objection to UPI or Digital India itself; rather, our concern lies with the additional financial burden placed on merchants who accept digital payments. If we want Digital India to progress further, digital payments must remain affordable for the entire retail ecosystem. Our clear demand is that UPI merchant payments continue under a zero-MDR structure.

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