New Delhi, Oct. 2 -- As India's new fee on UPI merchant transactions kicks in on 15 October, the government is preparing to ensure the cost does not unfairly land on consumers. The department of consumer affairs is strengthening the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) to handle complaints under the new merchant discount rate (MDR) framework and clarify which UPI payments must remain free, two government officials said. The department, the custodian of consumer rights, will support the finance ministry in resolving complaints and grievances received through the consumer helpline, they said. The department has strengthened the helpline to handle such complaints, having already managed a similar flow post rationalization of goods and services tax rates last September. "Since the NCH serves as a pre-litigation consumer grievance redressal mechanism, the department is putting in place a detailed set of dos and don'ts to guide consumers on the new framework," said the first of the two people cited above. "It is also training call-centre executives to respond to consumer queries and grievances with accurate and relevant information." "As clearly stated by the finance ministry, person-to-person (P2P) UPI transactions will remain completely free, while a 0.4% MDR will apply only to specified person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions of above Rs.2,000. Transactions of up to Rs.2,000 will also remain free," said the second person. "If consumers register complaints with the NCH against merchants for imposing charges in violation of these provisions, the complaints will be examined under the Consumer Protection Act and necessary action will be taken," the person said. To be sure, for P2M UPI transactions of Rs.75,000 and above, the MDR is capped at Rs.300 per transaction. The standard MDR is 0.4%, but the cap means the charge does not keep increasing beyond Rs.300. The helpline is a channel for consumers to seek redressal. After the GST rationalization move, it got 3,981 queries and grievances in about two weeks of implementation. Of these, 69% were grievances, while 31% were queries. Queries will be answered immediately, while for grievances, the consumer affairs department will examine whether they can be addressed under the Consumer Protection Act. Complaints that fall under the purview of the finance ministry will be forwarded to the concerned department for appropriate action, the officials said. India's largest trade association welcomed the new framework, and denied that merchants had indicated they would stop accepting payments in UPI. "None of the traders has said they will stop accepting payments above the Rs.2,000 limit. All merchants will continue to accept UPI payments. At the same time, we are requesting the government to provide some exemption to small traders," said B.C. Bhartia, national president of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which represents more than 80 million traders and 40,000 trade associations....