Demands for Rollback of Merchant Discount Rate Affecting Hyderabad Commerce

Syed Nizamuddin, TPCC spokesperson, and Syed Khalid Saifullah, Hyderabad district Congress committee president, demanded an immediate rollback of the new Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) affecting local commerce in Hyderabad. The new policy, set to apply from October 15, imposes a 0.4% MDR on eligible person-to-merchant UPI transactions exceeding ₹2,000, capped at ₹300 per transaction. While person-to-person transfers and transactions up to ₹2,000 remain under the zero-MDR framework, the speakers warned that the increased cost could move through the wholesale-retail supply chain.

The increased MDR applies to high-value digital payments in Hyderabad, where digital payments are deeply embedded in everyday commerce. Nizamuddin argued that merchants facing this new expense would have to absorb the cost by cutting margins, reducing discounts, adjusting prices, or shifting to cash for higher-value sales.