#SayNoToMDR 👉 Act Now: D-Day 15 October – Your Society Will Pay to Collect Its Own Money

From 15 October, every UPI payment to your housing society may carry a 0.4% charge. Housing societies were left out of the list of exemptions. Email before 15 October.

Why this campaign: Over the past weeks, many housing societies and their members have inquired with SocietySeWA about the new UPI MDR and its effect on their maintenance funds. At their request, we are running this public campaign to save housing society funds from MDR. #SayNoToMDR #SaveSocietyMoney

Every month, you pay your society's maintenance by UPI. It is quick, clean and traceable. It is exactly what Digital India asked of us.

Now that very payment is about to carry a new bank charge, and housing societies have simply been left out of the relief list. In the end, you, the flat-owner, will pay it.

What is changing on 15 October

From 15 October 2026, banks and payment providers will deduct a Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) of 0.4% on UPI payments to "merchants" (P2M) above ₹2,000. It is capped at ₹300 per transaction of ₹75,000 and above. Payments up to ₹2,000 remain free.

The Ministry of Finance (Department of Financial Services) FAQs dated 15.09.2026 give zero or a flat ₹5 charge to utilities (electricity, municipal water, gas), insurance, fuel, railways, telecom and education.

Co-operative housing societies are not mentioned anywhere. So a society's UPI QR falls, by default, into the 0.4% bracket.

Why this hurts every member

A society cannot pass this charge on to the payer (FAQ Q.34). So it comes out of the common fund, which means out of every member's own pocket. Yet the same FAQs (Q.15) promise that consumers will not be charged. The flat-owner is the consumer.

A housing society is not a shop. It earns no profit. It collects only bye-law charges (property tax, water, common electricity, repairs, sinking fund) and spends them on the same members.

Much of your maintenance bill is municipal tax, water and electricity. Paid directly, these carry nil or ₹5. Routed through your society, the same money attracts 0.4%.

• •A ₹4,000 monthly bill: ₹16 per payment.
• •A ₹10,000 bill: ₹40, against ₹5 for a utility.
• •A 1,200-flat society with ₹4,000 bills paid by UPI: about ₹2.3 lakh a year lost from its repairs and sinking funds.

There is a larger risk. Committees may push members back to cheques and cash. That is the opposite of Digital India.

If GST spares us, why should MDR not?

The Government has already accepted this principle. Under GST, members' maintenance contributions up to ₹7,500 per member per month are exempt (Notification 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate), Sl. No. 77(c); Circular 109/28/2019-GST).

If GST treats this money as non-commercial, MDR must too.

What we have done

On 7 October 2026, Expert Jurist LLP, through SocietySeWA, filed a formal representation with the Union Minister of Home Affairs and Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah (Ministry of Cooperation), the Department of Financial Services (Ministry of Finance), the Reserve Bank of India (Dept of Payment & Settlement Systems), NPCI, and the Maharashtra Co-operation Department.

We have respectfully asked for three things:

1. 1Exempt society maintenance collections from MDR; or at least
2. 2Nil MDR up to ₹7,500 per member per month (GST parity), and the flat ₹5 utility rate above that.
3. 3Defer the levy for societies until a decision is taken.

Now it's your turn

One letter is a request. Ten thousand emails are a voice.

Every member. Every committee. Email TODAY, before 15 October.

Fastest way: tap the ✉️ Send email now button on this page — your email opens ready to send. Or copy the details below.

• •To: secy-coop@gov.in (Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation, Govt of India) and cgmdpssco@rbi.org.in (RBI, Department of Payment & Settlement Systems)
• •Cc: corporate.communications@npci.org.in (NPCI, which runs UPI) and support@societysewa.in (so SocietySeWA can count the support and follow up)

Subject: Request to exempt housing society maintenance payments from UPI MDR

Respectfully Sir/Madam,

As a proud citizen of India and a member of a co-operative housing society, I pay my maintenance by UPI.

Our society is a non-profit, mutual body. It collects only bye-law charges from members and spends them on the members themselves. GST already exempts members' contributions up to ₹7,500 per member per month, recognising this non-commercial character.

If MDR is levied, it will come out of our common fund, that is, from every member's pocket.

I therefore request that housing society maintenance payments be exempted from MDR or, at the least, be given parity with GST: nil MDR up to ₹7,500 per member per month and the flat ₹5 rate above that. I also request that the levy be deferred for societies until a decision is taken.

I support the representation of Expert Jurist LLP / SocietySeWA dated 07.10.2026.

Thank you for your kind consideration.

Yours sincerely,, [Your Name], [Society Name, City]

4 quick tips

1. 1Add one line in your own words. Personal emails are less likely to be filtered as spam.
2. 2Be polite. Courtesy is our strength.
3. 3One email per person. Ask your family members and neighbours to send their own.
4. 4Committees: pass this on in the society WhatsApp group and put it on the notice board. Forward this article.

Share this: "Our maintenance bill is about to attract a 0.4% UPI charge. One email takes two minutes. Send it before 15 October."

One last word

Our societies are built on one idea: ordinary people pooling their own money for their own homes. Let us make sure that money stays in our homes. Send the email today.

#SayNoToMDR #SaveSocietyMoney — send your email, then share this page in every society WhatsApp group you are part of.

This article is for public awareness. The MDR rates are from the Ministry of Finance FAQs dated 15.09.2026; the rupee examples are illustrations.