Instructions have been issued on Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) Structure on June 28, 2012 capping the MDR @ 0.75% for payment made through debit cards upto ₹ 2000/- and @ not exceeding 1 % for transaction value above ₹ 2000/-. Further, in order to facilitate wider acceptance of card payments, following temporary measures have been introduced for the period from Jan 1, 2017 applicable till March 31, 2017:

i.    For transactions upto ₹ 1000/- MDR shall be capped at 0.25% of the transaction value.

ii.   For transactions above ₹ 1000/- and upto ₹ 2000/-, MDR shall be capped at 0.5% of the transaction value.

Reserve Bank of India has been continuously striving to promote electronic transactions by making it safe, secure accessible and efficient. Toward this end, a number of measures have been taken on “Security and Risk Mitigation Measures for Securing Electronic Payment Transactions” which can broadly be put in to 4 categories.

 i.    Securing Card Present Transactions

 ii.   Securing Card not Present Transactions/On line card not present transactions.

 iii.  Securing Payments through Internet banking /Electronic Payments-RBI has required banks to introduce additional measures to secure electronic mode of payments like RTGS, NEFT and IMPS.

 iv.  On line alerts for all type of card transactions – RBI instructed banks to send on line alerts to customers for all type of card transactions

Hon’ble Finance Minister in Budget Speech 2017-18 has proposed to create a Payments Regulatory Board in the Reserve Bank of India by replacing the existing Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems. Necessary amendments are proposed to this effect in the Finance Bill 2017.

This was stated by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

Merchant discount rate caps reinforce consumer protection in card payments alongside mandated security measures and proposed payments regulator. The document sets caps on the Merchant Discount Rate for debit-card acceptance, including temporary lower ceilings for low-value transactions to foster wider card acceptance, and outlines RBI security and risk mitigation measures covering card-present and card-not-present transactions, internet-banking and interbank electronic transfers, and mandatory online transaction alerts; it also notes a policy proposal to establish a Payments Regulatory Board through legislative amendment.