Lucknow: The Akhil Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal will launch a campaign to ensure that the proposed 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI transactions is not implemented, the organisation’s national president and former Uttar Pradesh minister, Sandeep Bansal, said at a traders’ conference in the Para area of Lucknow.
Bansal said the Union government had temporarily deferred the proposed charge, but the organisation would continue to press for a permanent decision against its implementation. Its office-bearers would approach Union ministers and the Prime Minister to present the concerns of traders.
He argued that introducing MDR could create an additional financial burden, potentially functioning like a new tax whose cost could ultimately be passed on to consumers. The organisation will work on an alternative proposal and submit it to the government to prevent traders from facing an additional charge.
The conference also marked an expansion of the organisation’s presence across the Para region, with new responsibilities assigned to several office-bearers. Those named included Ashish Mishra from Chunnu Khera, Aniruddh Kannaujia, Shivang Somvanshi, Roli Nigam and Ashutosh Tiwari from the Para Ring Road area, Sandeep Shukla and Vimal Singh from Devpur, Pankaj Sharma from Hanskheda, Rahul Soni from Kanoi Road, youth in-charge Rahul Upadhyay and patron Surendra Vikram Singh.
Those present included Lucknow metropolitan president Suresh Chhablani, youth state general secretary Akash Gautam, general secretary Anuj Gautam, youth general secretary Shubham Maurya, treasurer Mukesh Kumar Nag, Para traders’ body president Rajendra Shukla, general secretary Manish Awasthi and several other office-bearers.
