CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana petrol pump dealers have urged the Centre to exempt them from the proposed 0.4 per cent Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI transactions above Rs 2,000. They said the additional cost would strain dealers who are already operating on limited margins.
The petrol pumps in Punjab will not accept UPI payments above Rs 2,000 from October 16. While petroleum dealers of Haryana are yet to take a final decision.
There are more than 4,000 petrol pumps across Punjab. The Petrol Pump Dealers’ Association Punjab (PPDAP) Executive Member, Ashwinder Mongia said that the petroleum dealers will suffer losses as most of the consumers, especially truck drivers, make payments on UPI.
"We have requested the Central Government and oil companies to exempt petrol pumps from the charges. If they do not accept our genuine request, we will have no option but to stop accepting such UPI payments from October 16, as this decision has been taken in the meeting of our association that we will not accept UPI payments above Rs 2,000."
"The petrol pumps would continue to accept credit and debit card payments,’’ Mongia added.
Mongia said, "The MDR will push petrol pumps to switch to cash payments, as earlier the government discouraged cash and made the public switch to digital transactions."
"For many years, the commission of the petroleum dealers has not been increased despite repeated requests to the government and oil companies the day-to-day operational costs such as salaries of staff, electricity bills, maintenance and other expenses have increased manyfold...but we earn a margin of just 2 per cent on every litre of petrol,’’ he said.
In a letter to the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri and the Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman, as well as the chairpersons and managing directors of oil marketing companies that the petroleum retail sector must be protected.
"...Please consider the matter urgent and issue an order to exclude petroleum retail outlets entirely from these impending MDR charges; else we would be left with no other option but to stop accepting payments in excess of Rs 2000 through UPI," the letter said.
Meanwhile, the All Haryana Petroleum Dealers Association (AHPDA) has also written to Sitharaman and Puri for their immediate intervention.
The letter reads, "This representation is regarding the Rs 5 MDR on UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 in the fuel sector. Petroleum dealers are already operating on very limited margins, and the additional MDR burden will particularly affect low-sales-volume petrol pumps in Haryana."
The association has demanded to completely exempt pumps from Rs 5 MDR, continuation of Zero-MDR UPI facility for the fuel sector, no additional payment burden on petroleum dealers and special consideration for low-volume outlets.