No UPI Day: Gujarat Traders Cover QR Codes

AHMEDABAD: Digital payments took a back seat at several Gujarat markets on Friday as traders covered their UPI QR codes with black cloth and put up “Sorry, No UPI Today” notices in protest against the proposed Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on select UPI transactions. Trader associations said the move was aimed at sending a strong message against the additional cost they expect to face from October 15.

The protest has reportedly drawn support from around 600 trader associations across Gujarat, including automobile, mobile, electronics, textile and jewellery traders. In Rajkot and Vadodara, traders visibly covered their QR machines as part of the campaign.

Under the revised framework, a 0.4% MDR will apply to specified person-to-merchant UPI transactions above ₹2,000 from October 15. Transactions up to ₹2,000 will remain free, while specified capital-market payments will attract a 0.02% rate. The MDR is payable by merchants, not customers.

Trader bodies are demanding that the MDR be withdrawn, arguing that digital payments have become an integral part of daily commerce and that additional charges could increase operating costs.

With UPI accounting for an estimated 60% to 70% of transactions in some markets, traders said refusing digital payments for a day could disrupt business. Associations estimated that transactions worth around ₹50 crore could be affected in Gujarat.

However, the protest has not received uniform support. Ranganath Sharda, joint secretary of the Textile Market, said wholesale textile traders in Surat had not joined the agitation.

“We are facing difficulties too, but we believe the government will listen to us and take an appropriate decision. We have not joined any protest,” Sharda said.

The protest comes amid a wider debate over how to fund UPI infrastructure while keeping digital payments affordable. The government has said consumers will not bear the MDR directly.