The planned “No UPI Day” protest by mobile retailers and consumer product distributors on October 2 has been called off after trade delegations met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) and the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF) had announced the protest against the proposed 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate on UPI transactions above Rs 2,000, arguing it would burden small retailers with thin margins.

Following the meeting, the two associations decided to withdraw the protest, according to a joint statement. The delegation, led by BJP MP and CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal and AIMRA founder chairman Kailash Lakhyani, submitted a joint representation seeking changes to the proposed MDR framework.

Their key demands include deferring the levy instead of introducing it immediately, phasing it in at 0.2% in 2026-27 with a 0.05 percentage point annual increase to 0.4%, raising the applicability threshold from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, and keeping merchant-to-merchant transactions outside the framework.

The minister assured the delegation that their concerns would be duly considered and addressed, the associations said.