In a bid to propel the adoption and usage of digital payments in India, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced today (27 December) that from January, there would be no merchant discount rate (MDR) fee on RuPay debit card and UPI payments, reports Livemint.

Furthermore, Sitharaman also announced that all businesses with an annual turnover of more than ₹50 crore shall be mandated by the department of revenue (DoR) to provide the facility of payment through RuPay debit card and UPI QR code without levying any MDR fee.

The proposal about the same had been presented by Sitharaman during her maiden budget speech. Then she had pressed that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and banks should absorb the cost of transactions.

The development comes just a little more than a month before Sitharaman presents her second Union Budget in the Parliament on 1 February.