Mobile phone retailers across India plan to observe October 2, 2026 as "No UPI Day," refusing UPI payments for the day to protest the new 0.4% merchant discount rate (MDR) on eligible UPI transactions. The call came from the All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA), which announced the protest on Monday, September 28.
Participating retailers will symbolically cover their UPI QR codes with black cloth on Gandhi Jayanti — the latest escalation in a growing industry backlash against the charge.
What changes on October 15
Under the government's revised framework, a 0.4% MDR applies to specified person-to-merchant UPI transfers above ₹2,000, taking effect October 15, 2026. Person-to-person transfers and payments of up to ₹2,000 are exempt, and it is a merchant-side charge, not a consumer fee.
AIMRA vice president Tarvinder Singh said the protest was not against UPI or Digital India but against the added burden on merchants, and demanded UPI merchant payments continue under a zero-MDR structure.
In a representation to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, AIMRA estimated a small retailer processing ₹5–30 lakh monthly via UPI could lose ₹2,000–₹12,000 a month — figures it says are its own estimates, not independently validated. The association estimates the 0.4% charge could burden small mobile retailers by roughly ₹40 crore a month, nearly ₹500 crore a year.
Sources:
CNBC TV18 (PTI) — Mobile phone retailers protest UPI MDR charges on Oct 2
India TV News — What is 'No UPI Day': how mobile retailers plan to protest MDR charges on October 2
Participating retailers will symbolically cover their UPI QR codes with black cloth on Gandhi Jayanti — the latest escalation in a growing industry backlash against the charge.
What changes on October 15
Under the government's revised framework, a 0.4% MDR applies to specified person-to-merchant UPI transfers above ₹2,000, taking effect October 15, 2026. Person-to-person transfers and payments of up to ₹2,000 are exempt, and it is a merchant-side charge, not a consumer fee.
AIMRA vice president Tarvinder Singh said the protest was not against UPI or Digital India but against the added burden on merchants, and demanded UPI merchant payments continue under a zero-MDR structure.
In a representation to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, AIMRA estimated a small retailer processing ₹5–30 lakh monthly via UPI could lose ₹2,000–₹12,000 a month — figures it says are its own estimates, not independently validated. The association estimates the 0.4% charge could burden small mobile retailers by roughly ₹40 crore a month, nearly ₹500 crore a year.
Sources:
CNBC TV18 (PTI) — Mobile phone retailers protest UPI MDR charges on Oct 2
India TV News — What is 'No UPI Day': how mobile retailers plan to protest MDR charges on October 2
