{"id":4420,"date":"2025-06-12T17:01:44","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T11:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eqwires.com\/tutorials\/?p=4420"},"modified":"2025-06-12T17:01:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T11:31:44","slug":"paytm-shares-slide-nearly-10-amid-mdr-confusion-govt-clarifies-no-charges-on-upi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eqwires.com\/tutorials\/paytm-shares-slide-nearly-10-amid-mdr-confusion-govt-clarifies-no-charges-on-upi\/","title":{"rendered":"Paytm Shares Slide Nearly 10% Amid MDR Confusion, Govt Clarifies No Charges on UPI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Paytm parent One97 Communications<\/strong> witnessed a sharp selloff in early trade on Thursday, with its shares tumbling nearly 10% amid speculation around the imposition of Merchant Discount Rate (MDR)<\/strong> on UPI transactions<\/strong>\u2014a rumor that the Finance Ministry later firmly denied<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the NSE<\/strong>, Paytm stock dropped as much as 10% to \u20b9864.40<\/strong>, while on the BSE<\/strong>, it touched an intraday low of \u20b9864.20<\/strong>, down 9.97%. The stock was trading 7.52% lower at \u20b9888 as of 9:46 AM, significantly underperforming the broader BSE500 index<\/strong>, which was down just 0.19%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Triggered the Selloff?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panic began with media reports speculating that the government may introduce MDR<\/strong>\u2014a fee typically charged to merchants for card-based transactions\u2014on UPI payments. This spooked investors, especially those holding stocks in the digital payments space like Paytm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Finance Ministry swiftly stepped in<\/strong> to quash these rumors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSpeculations and claims that the MDR will be charged on UPI transactions are completely false, baseless, and misleading\u2026 The Government remains fully committed to promoting digital payments via UPI,\u201d<\/em> the Ministry said in an official post on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why MDR Matters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Merchant Discount Rate (MDR)<\/strong> is the fee merchants pay for accepting digital payments. While it’s standard for card transactions, the government made MDR zero<\/strong> for RuPay debit cards and BHIM-UPI<\/strong> from January 2020<\/strong>, to promote digital adoption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To further support the digital payments ecosystem, the government also launched an Incentive Scheme<\/strong> that reimburses stakeholders for UPI person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions<\/strong> under \u20b92,000, particularly aiding small merchants<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investor Nervousness Despite Clarification<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the government\u2019s denial, the initial speculation was enough to trigger high-volume selling. Within the first 30 minutes of trade<\/strong>, Paytm saw:<\/p>\n\n\n\n