Pune: Paying school bus fees through UPI is set to get expensive as the Pune Bus and Car Owners Association has decided to push the burden of MDR on parents.Payment gateways are set to charge a merchant discount rate (MDR) on UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 from Oct 15. Since many operators collect bus fees quarterly or half-yearly, the additional charge is likely to be higher.Meanwhile, the Mumbai-based School Bus Owners Association (SBOA), which has a nationwide presence, has said it will stop accepting school bus fee payments through UPI from Oct 15.“Parents are requested to pay bus fees by cheque or credit card,” said Anil Garg, the association’s president.Garg said the association had already written to the Union finance minister seeking exemption for school buses, petrol pumps and spare-part shops from the charge.“We have already emailed the finance minister requesting that school buses, petrol pumps and spare-part shops be treated as essential services and exempted from this charge. If an exemption is not given, we will be forced to stop UPI collection permanently,” he said.“With MDR set to be levied soon, we are urging parents to use other modes of payment. We are keeping the UPI payment facility open, but the additional cost for transactions above Rs 2,000 will have to be borne by the parents,” Rajan Junavane, president of the Pune Bus and Car Owners Association, told TOI.
