“The MDR is expected to take effect only after the festive season,” newspaper Business Standard reported, citing sources.
Payment aggregators Paytm and Pine Labs’ share price declined 4.69% to Rs 1,650.70 and 2.9% to Rs 172.58, as of 10:13 am.
This comes after traders and industry associations raised concerns that the introduction of MDR during the festive sales period would raise transaction costs for businesses.
Members of UPI and Service Steering Committee headed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI) met on Wednesday to discuss MDR timing and other considerations, the report said.
The MDR rollout was earlier scheduled to come into effect from October 15.
Earlier this month, wholesale traders and retailers observed a ‘No UPI Day’ to protest against the proposed introduction of MDR on UPI payments above Rs 2,000.The government had proposed changes to the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, paving way for MDR on select UPI transactions, with payments above Rs 2,000 made to large merchants emerging as a possible focus.
‘The exemption for transactions of up to Rs 2,000 will stay as decided earlier (even as the rollout gets deferred),’ the report said, citing the source.
The committee is also mulling exemption of businesses with annual turnover of up to Rs 40 lakh from the MDR fee, aiming to significantly expand the existing framework under which businesses with monthly turnover of up to Rs 1 lakh were to be spared under the rollout, the report added.