Shares of Paytm parent One 97 Communications and MobiKwik fell sharply on Thursday, October 8, 2026, after a CNBC-TV18 report said the planned October 15 start of merchant discount rates on some UPI payments could slip to January 2027.
How the Payment Stocks Moved on Thursday
One 97 Communications, which runs the Paytm brand, fell 7.6% on Thursday, according to Reuters. One MobiKwik Systems slipped 7.2%. The selling was sharper at the intraday low. Paytm had closed at ₹1,732 on Wednesday and touched ₹1,558.80 on the NSE on Thursday, a fall of about 10%, while Pine Labs fell by as much as 8%.
By 10:49 AM, Paytm was trading at ₹1,642.70 on the NSE, down 5.16% from its previous close, according to Angel One data. The recovery from the lows suggests the first reaction was stronger than the one that followed. Investors were reacting to a timing report, not to a change in the fee itself.
What the UPI Fee Framework Says
The merchant discount rate, or MDR, is the fee a merchant pays to the bank or payment company that processes a digital payment. Merchant payments on UPI have run on a zero-MDR basis in recent years. The Central Board of Direct Taxes removed MDR on person-to-merchant UPI transactions from January 2020, and the Finance Ministry stated in 2025 that no MDR is charged on such payments.
The new framework, scheduled to take effect on October 15, 2026, has these main features:
- A 0.4% MDR applies to eligible person-to-merchant UPI payments above ₹2,000.
- The charge is capped at ₹300 per transaction, which applies from transactions of ₹75,000 and above.
- Select categories, including railways, telecom, insurance, fuel, agricultural inputs and utility payments, attract a flat ₹5 fee on eligible transactions above ₹2,000.
- Payments up to ₹2,000, person-to-person transfers and eligible small-merchant transactions stay exempt.
- Consumers do not pay the charge.
Why the Date Matters to Payment Companies
A delay would not rewrite the framework, but it would change when payment companies could start earning revenue linked to it. CNBC-TV18 noted that any delay could affect expectations around the timing of potential monetisation benefits for payment companies such as Paytm and MobiKwik. Pine Labs also fell on the report, which shows the reaction covered the listed payments sector and was not limited to a single company.
That is why a shift from October 15 to January 1, 2027 can move share prices even though no fee has been cancelled. CNBC-TV18 reported, citing sources, that requests to defer the rollout have been submitted to the National Payments Corporation of India and the Finance Ministry. A decision is expected in the coming days, the channel said.
The Pushback From Merchants
Traders and industry associations have raised concerns about introducing a fee during the festive sales period, when transaction volumes are high, and merchant groups have warned of the effect on small retailers and micro, small and medium enterprises. Industry groups had earlier asked for a delay, a higher exemption threshold and a phased rollout, CNBC-TV18 said. The retail trader body AIMRA has sought a fixed, nominal charge in place of the 0.4% rate, according to Inc42.
Inc42 also reported that an exemption for businesses with annual turnover of up to ₹40 lakh is under consideration. That detail is not part of the announced framework, and it has not been confirmed by the government.
What Is Confirmed and What Is Not
The confirmed facts are the structure of the MDR framework and the share price moves on Thursday. The delay itself is not confirmed. It rests on reports citing unnamed sources, and no revised date has been formally announced. Until one is, the structure remains scheduled to take effect on October 15, according to Kotak Neo's summary of the Moneycontrol report.
The scale of the platform explains why the decision draws attention. UPI transaction value rose from ₹21.3 lakh crore in FY2019-20 to ₹260.56 lakh crore by March 2025, according to Finance Ministry figures. Any fee on that base, even one that applies to a minority of payments, matters to the companies that process them.
Readers following the story should watch for an official notice from NPCI or the Finance Ministry confirming the start date, because the share price reaction on Thursday was driven by the report, not by a final decision.
