Centre’s no MDR stance derails fintech’s UPI monetisation plans

The Ministry of Finance’s clarification that there was no plan to reintroduce the merchant discount rate (MDR) on payments done via Unified Payments Interface has dampened the monetisation plans that payment firms had around the popular payment ecosystem.

Shares of listed payment firms fell Thursday, a day after the ministry said speculations about the return of the fee for processing UPI payments were “completely false, baseless and misleading”.

One 97 Communications, which runs the payment platform Paytm, closed 6.8% lower at Rs 895.15 on the…