Debit card payments: RBI proposes to drastically cut MDR charges

New Delhi: The RBI on Thursday proposed to drastically cut MDR charges on debit card payments.

"Recent developments have given a fillip to electronic transactions including card payments even at smaller merchant establishments. Keeping this in mind, for encouraging a wider segment of merchants to accept card payments, consultations were held with stakeholders for rationalising the MDR structure for debit card transactions, " the central bank said in a statement.

"This draft circular is the culmination of these discussions and seeks a shift from the present slab-rate MDR based on transaction value to merchant turnover based MDR structure, for which merchants have been suitably categorised. Further, a differential MDR structure for asset light card acceptance infrastructure like QR Code, special merchant categories for government transactions and other transactions involving non-discretionary expenses have also been proposed, " the central bank said.

RBI added further that the banks are free to set the MDR below the regulatory caps indicated for each category.

Meanwhile, the central bank today said that it will also start reimbursing MDR charges to banks for payments made since January 1 through debit cards by citizens, in line with the government's move to further digital solutions.

"In order to operationalise the (government's direction), the Reserve Bank will reimburse banks MDR on debit cards used for payment of tax and non-tax dues to the government of India with effect from January 1, 2017," the RBI said in a separate notification.

Banks have been asked to forward their claim for reimbursement of MDR along with statutory auditor's certificate, as in the case of agency commission claims, to RBI's Nagpur office on a quarterly basis.