The new merchant discount rate (MDR) on select UPI (Unified Payments Interface) transactions is set to change the economics of digital payments for merchants starting October 15. Industry representatives argue that a uniform 0.4% charge may not work equally well across businesses with varying margins and turnover.
India is home to around 63 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), many of which are increasingly using digital payments, such as UPI, for day-to-day business transactions.
