AIMRA and AICPDF call off 2 Oct 'No UPI Day'; the 15 Oct UPI fee is still scheduled

The All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) and the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF) have withdrawn from the “No UPI Day” protest planned for 2 October 2026. They did so after a meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 30 September, according to a joint statement of the associations reported by Mint, carrying PTI, the New Indian Express and Business Standard. Neutral Politics checked those accounts on 1 October 2026 (IST). This note was posted at 8:49 am IST that morning.

The delegation was led by Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). In the statement those papers reported, the associations said the finance minister heard their concerns and assured the delegation that the issues would be duly considered and addressed. That is the associations’ account of the meeting. It is not a Finance Ministry release, and it is not a statement from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). No new statement from the Finance Ministry or from NPCI was found after the meeting.

What the traders asked for is separate from what has been decided. They sought a deferment, a phased rollout, and a higher threshold, put in the reports at ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh, among other asks. Those remain requests from the associations. A report that the minister was asked to defer the fee, to phase it in, or to raise the threshold does not record a government decision to do any of those things.

The fee those requests were aimed at is still on the calendar the reports describe. CNBC-TV18, citing Moneycontrol, reported on 30 September that a 0.4% fee on merchant UPI payments above ₹2,000 remains scheduled from 15 October. The reports checked on 1 October do not show that date or that rate withdrawn. Calling off the 2 October protest is not a formal rollback of the merchant discount rate (MDR).

The Press Information Bureau’s release of 15 September 2026 is the account used here for which payments stay free. Person-to-person UPI is free. Merchant payments, person-to-merchant, up to ₹2,000 are free. The fee is not meant to be charged to customers. CNBC-TV18’s report leaves the 0.4% charge on merchant payments above ₹2,000 in place from 15 October, alongside that description. Person-to-person transfers, on the PIB account, stay free.

The reporting on the withdrawal is from 30 September. CNBC-TV18’s story is timed at 4:10 pm IST. Business Standard’s is timed at 6:30 pm IST. Mint’s PTI copy is timed at 8:23 pm IST. The New Indian Express report carries the date 30 September and, in the source list used here, no clock time. The PIB note that describes the free bands is dated 15 September. It is not a note issued after the meeting with the finance minister.

Two limits follow from that record. An assurance, in the associations’ words, that the issues would be considered and addressed is not an order shifting 15 October, changing 0.4%, or setting the threshold at ₹1 lakh or ₹5 lakh. No such order was found. Other bodies had earlier joined the 2 October call. What they will do after AIMRA and AICPDF withdrew is not confirmed. These reports establish the withdrawal of those two associations. They do not establish the plan of every other organisation for 2 October.

What's next

The next dated point in these reports is 15 October, when CNBC-TV18 says the 0.4% fee on merchant UPI payments above ₹2,000 is still scheduled to begin. Person-to-person UPI, and merchant payments up to ₹2,000, stay free on the 15 September PIB description, and that fee is not meant to be charged to customers. Deferment, a phased rollout, or a higher threshold stays a request from the traders until a Finance Ministry or NPCI statement says otherwise. None was found when this was checked on 1 October 2026 (IST).