Traders' Body Urges Central Government to Drop Proposed UPI Charges for Transactions Above 2000

Thiruvananthapuram: The Vyapari Vyavasayi Samithi has urged the Centre to withdraw its proposed move to impose additional charges on traders carrying out UPI transactions from October 15.

The new decision comes at a time when the trading and small-scale industrial sectors are already facing severe challenges, said Vyapari Vyavasayi Samithi state president V K C Mammed Koya and secretary E S Biju in a statement. They said the proposed charges were contrary to the existing GST policies.

Banks have been given the authority to levy charges on UPI transactions, the leaders said, alleging that the Centre was adopting a policy of putting traders under increasing financial pressure. They noted that when the government introduced cashless transactions and demonetisation, it had announced measures to eliminate transaction charges completely.

The new charges imposed on traders could create serious difficulties in the trading sector, they said.

The leaders also said the impact of new trade agreements with the United States had aggravated the difficulties faced by the business sector. Structural changes in the GST regime had also affected traders, they said. The trading and industrial sectors were yet to recover from the impact of rising petrol and diesel prices and increasing gas prices.

According to the proposed fee structure cited by the Samithi, traders would have to pay an additional Rs 12 on a transaction of Rs 3,000. The charge would rise to Rs 40 for a Rs 10,000 transaction, Rs 200 for Rs 50,000 and Rs 300 for Rs 75,000.

GST would also be levied in addition to these charges, the leaders said, describing the additional financial burden as a major setback for traders.

The Samithi office-bearers demanded the immediate withdrawal of the additional charges being imposed on traders for UPI transactions.