Business Line and The Hindu both discuss India’s move toward a “selective” approach to UPI merchant discount rates (MDR), arguing that any such framework depends on more than setting a pricing rule.
Both outlets emphasize that reliable merchant intelligence—information about merchants’ characteristics and risk or service profiles—is central to making selective MDR work in practice. The discussion frames merchant data as necessary to ensure that pricing is applied appropriately and consistently, rather than relying on broad assumptions that could lead to mismatches between the MDR charged and a merchant’s actual situation.
While neither source presents a single, definitive policy outcome, the shared angle is that implementation details matter. The coverage focuses on operational requirements and governance of merchant information, suggesting that stakeholders need systems and processes that can identify and classify merchants accurately. The “selective” concept is treated as conditional on data quality and the ability to use merchant intelligence reliably across transactions and merchant categories.
