Only 17% merchants willing to bear 0.4% MDR on UPI payments: Survey
Distilled Policy Brief
- A LocalCircles survey of 32,000 merchants indicates that only 17% are willing to bear the 0.4% MDR, with 41% unwilling to pay any fee for transactions above ₹2,000.
- UPI transactions up to ₹2,000 remain exempt from fees, a protection that also extends to RuPay debit card payments.
🎯 Prelims High-Yield Examination Points
Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) applicability on UPI vs RuPay; exemption threshold for UPI transactions.
⚖️ Mains Analytical & Syllabus Linkages
Impact of MDR implementation on the adoption of digital public infrastructure and merchant-consumer behavior in the digital economy.
🎯 UPSC Prelims Practice Drill
With reference to the bilateral research and industrial cooperation engagements between India and Germany, consider the following statements: 1. Roundtables held with German research organizations, such as the Fraunhofer Institutes, prioritized key fields including microelectronics, power electronics, and smart manufacturing. 2. Expanding industry-academia innovation networks and collaboration in battery technologies form key components of the enhanced strategic cooperation. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- [A] 1 only
- [B] 2 only
- [C] Both 1 and 2
- [D] Neither 1 nor 2
▶ Reveal Official Answer & Analytical Explanation
Both statements are correct. High-level roundtables with German research institutes, including Fraunhofer Institutes, focused on microelectronics, power electronics, smart manufacturing, battery technologies, and logistics. Furthermore, the engagement emphasized strengthening industry-academia innovation networks, science and technology cooperation, and advanced manufacturing capabilities between India and Germany.
🏛️ Historical Twin PYQ Anchor (2021)
Consider the following statements regarding the "National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)": 1. It is implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 2. Central Pollution Control Board acts as the sole regulatory executive body.