Consumers, Petrol Pumps To Not Bear Card Transaction Charge: Petroleum Minister
The government too will not be the one to bear the MDR charges, said Pradhan.
Banks and oil marketing companies (OMCs) must hold discussions and arrive at a decision on who bears the merchant discount rate (MDR) charge levied on fuel purchase through card transactions, said Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday.
Consumers, petrol pump owners or the government will not bear the charge, said Pradhan, who has been meeting officials from various government ministries in order to resolve the issue. Petrol pump owners are commissioning agents, and not merchants, and should therefore not have to bear the levy, the minister added.
On Saturday, petrol pump operators had decided not to accept card payments to protest the MDR charges that were slated to be levied from Monday, January 9. However, on Sunday, the protest was deferred till January 13.
The government had waived MDR charges after the demonetisation announcement till December 31, 2016. However, more than 50 days after the withdrawal of old high-value currency notes, banks said they will again start charging petrol pump owners 1 percent MDR on all credit card transactions, on an average. The rate for debit card transactions ranged between 0.25 percent and 1 percent.
The 0.75 percent refund on the total value of fuel purchased, which the government had announced to incentivise digital payments, will stay for now, Pradhan said.
Paytm Grabs The Opportunity
Looking to capitalise on the situation, Paytm said it has partnered with over 41,000 petrol pumps across the country which will allow cashless payments at zero additional charges.
This means vehicle owners can use Paytm to pay for fuel at a zero surcharge, the company said in a media statement.
The company added that it had seen a monthly growth of almost 200 percent in the number of petrol pump stations registered with its digital platform, and 70 percent of these tie-ups are already online.
