Brahmapur: Several traders in Odisha’s Ganjam district observed “No UPI Day” Friday in protest against the proposed Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on certain UPI transactions.
Holding placards and banners, members of the Ganjam Chamber of Commerce (GCC) took out a protest rally in Brahmapur, raising slogans against the imposition of the proposed MDR on some UPI transactions.
They raised slogans like “Save small business, praise physical market and save traders’ margin say no to MDR on UPI”. The small traders demanded a complete rollback of the decision.
“First, the central government promoted Digital India and a digital economy. And now, they have decided to impose MDR on UPI transactions. We have been doing UPI transactions for several years. This sudden decision by the Centre will certainly hamper our business,” said a protesting trader.
Rabindra Swamy, a GCC leader demanded the Union government publish a white paper mentioning who will benefit from the imposition of MDR. “We will continue our protest until it is completely rolled back,” he said.
Apart from Ganjam, several small traders and street vendors across the state have stopped receiving payment from customers on UPI. They have started demanding cash from the customers.
PTI
