Specified businesses to pay fine of ₹5,000/day if they do not operationalise digital payment options by January 31

Come February 1, businesses with turnover of ₹50 crore or more that failed to operationalise payment system through RuPay debit card or BHIM UPI, will be liable to pay penalty at the rate of ₹5,000 per day.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified a Budget announcement which said that business establishments with annual turnover of more than ₹50 crore, shall offer low-cost digital modes of payment (such as BHIM UPI, UPI QR Code, Aadhaar Pay, Debit Cards, NEFT, RTGS etc.) to their customers, and also no charge or Merchant Discount Rates (MDR) shall be imposed on customers and merchants.

MDR refers to the cost paid by merchant to a bank for accepting payment through electronic means such as credit card, debit card etc. But if neither the customer nor the merchant foots the MDR bill, who then would bear the cost? In her budget speech,