Demand to Withdraw Bangla QR Transaction Charges

'Bangla QR' is considered one of the primary tools for achieving the government's vision of a 'Cashless and Smart Bangladesh.' However, the existing Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) or service charge on Bangla QR transactions has become a major barrier for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). As a result, many merchants are discouraged from accepting QR payments, which hampers the expansion of the digital economy. Mohiuddin Ahmed, President of the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumers Association (BMPCA), expressed this concern in a recent statement.

The statement highlighted that many countries worldwide follow a zero or extremely low-fee policy for QR-based payments to popularize digital transactions. For instance, India's UPI maintains a zero MDR for most retail transactions. Similarly, Thailand's PromptPay, Singapore's PayNow, and Malaysia's DuitNow QR keep fees zero or minimal for small businesses. Conversely, Bangladesh currently enforces an MDR of nearly 1% (including VAT) on Bangla QR transactions. Ultimately, the burden of this additional cost falls on consumers through increased commodity prices, discouraging small traders, kitchen markets, hawkers, transport workers, pharmacies, and rural entrepreneurs.

BMPCA believes that a cashless economy is built through public-friendly policies, not just technology. To resolve this issue, the association has placed 5 key demands. These include completely withdrawing the current service charge on Bangla QR or capping it at a maximum of 0.25%, implementing a 5-year charge-free window for small and medium merchants, offering tax incentives for digital payment-complying businesses, ensuring seamless MFS and inter-bank QR transactions, and launching national awareness campaigns.

Mohiuddin Ahmed stated, "A cashless economy is not a luxury; it is an essential infrastructure for modern governance. People cannot be expected to abandon cash for digital methods while being burdened with high transaction charges. Global success stories show that lower costs lead to higher digital transactions." He emphasized that to build a truly cashless Bangladesh, there is no alternative to immediately withdrawing or minimizing the service charges on Bangla QR.