Paytm, One Mobikwik, Pine Labs shares tumble up to 7% intraday as NPCI defers 0.4% UPI MDR fees till Diwali

Online payments platforms like One 97 Communications (Paytm), One Mobikwik, and Pine Labs shares tumbled up to 7% during the intraday trading session on Tuesday, October 13, as equity market investors focused on the latest update from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to defer the implementation of UPI MDR fees till Diwali 2026.

On October 13, India’s digital payments regulator, NPCI, announced that the UPI and Services Steering Committee has decided to defer the implementation of Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on select Person-to-Merchant (P2M) UPI transactions till Diwali this year.

This means the 0.4% fee, which was set to be implemented on P2M transactions above ₹2,000, will now be imposed after Diwali, Sunday, November 8, 2026. However, NPCI also said that it will notify the date of implementation in a separate announcement in due time.

NPCI attributed this decision to the upcoming festive season, during which people around the country carry out big purchases.

This move eases the concerns among merchants who were looking towards paying high amounts of MDR charges this season, while limiting revenue potential for UPI payment platforms like Paytm, One Mobikwik, and Pine Labs.

“UPI and Services Steering Committee today decided that, keeping in mind the festive season, Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on select Person-to-Merchant (P2M) UPI transactions shall be implemented immediately post Diwali at a date to be notified separately,” as per the official statement.

Stock performance

Why were Paytm shares impacted today?

NSE data showed that Paytm shares dropped 7.04% to touch an intraday low of ₹1,571 apiece on Tuesday’s market, in comparison to ₹1,690 apiece at the previous equity market close.

Trading volumes surged past 6.7 million equity shares across NSE and BSE combined, triggering the high-volume losses intraday against the backdrop of the UPI MDR deferral update from NPCI.

Paytm shares were impacted during Tuesday’s market due to NPCI’s announcement, as the company was set to generate additional revenue from its merchant business with an additional fee of 0.4% due from all merchant users for transactions above ₹2,000.

Now, with NPCI deferring its implementation deadline for the UPI MDR fees post-Diwali, Paytm and other similar payment platforms will be missing out on the high-volume transaction gain potential during the festive season this year.

“This will generate additional revenue from the merchant business for many of the payment transactions that were free earlier,” the company said in an earlier exchange filing on September 15.

After touching the intraday low, Paytm shares recovered, trading 0.18% lower at ₹1,688 apiece as of 2:17 pm (IST) during the trading session on October 13.

Similar to Paytm, Pine Labs and One Mobikwik shares also lost significant value during the trading session, but all the stocks recovered after a brief period of fall during the intraday trade.

UPI MDR fees

Earlier, the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) of 0.4% on person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions above ₹2,000 through UPI (Unified Payments Interface), capped at ₹300 for payments of ₹75,000 and above, was set to be implemented from October 15.

As per the original mandate, merchants in sectors like railways, telecom, insurance, fuel and agricultural inputs will pay a flat MDR of ₹5 per transaction above ₹2,000, intended to keep costs predictable for critical services.

Merchants will also have to pay the same flat fee rate for government utility bill collection (electricity, water, piped gas) and educational fee payments such as school tuition and university fees above ₹2,000 per transaction.

Brokerage firms, securities companies, and mutual funds will also have to pay a 0.02% MDR capped at ₹300 per transaction maximum to collect the fees while keeping the cost of investing low and encouraging retail participation in formal financial markets.