India, Oct. 26 -- Former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai has urged the Centre to exempt small retailers from Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions, warning that imposing additional costs could undermine the digital payment ecosystem and hurt local businesses.

Speaking at a state-level retailers' convention organised by the All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) at Town Hall in Ajjarkad on October 24, Annamalai argued that the government should view UPI as an investment in the economy rather than a source of revenue.

"UPI is like a hen that lays a golden egg every day. If you kill it expecting to get a hundred eggs at once, you will end up with nothing," he said.

Annamalai sai...