Vadodara: 'Digital Satyagraha' on Gandhi Jayanti; 35,000 merchants take to the streets against UPI charges, online payment stopped completely

A big and surprising decision has come out of Vadodara today. If you are going out for shopping today, be careful, because if you do not have cash in your pocket, you may have to return empty-handed. About 35,000 small and big merchants of Vadodara have unanimously boycotted UPI payments. On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, traders have sounded the bugle of Satyagraha against digital arbitrariness through 'Gandhi Chidhya Marg'.

 Now the burden of charges on the traders by getting used to freebies?

The spillover in the merchant world came to the fore when UPI started charging various hidden charges and commissions on transactions. The direct and cynical allegation of the traders is that in the beginning, a habit of being cashless was created in the name of 'Digital India'. Now that consumers and traders have become completely dependent on it, companies and banks are making profits by charging exorbitant charges. It has become difficult for ordinary shopkeepers working on low margins to bear this additional charge.

Only cash, paper pasted on QR codes in markets across the city

From Mandvi, Raopura, Alkapuri to remote areas, trade unions have joined the movement. Scanner-QR codes installed at shops, paan stalls and big showrooms have been covered and boards in large letters read: "Today UPI or online payments will not be accepted, only cash transactions will be allowed." Trade leaders have clearly threatened that this protest on Gandhi Jayanti is just the beginning. If the government and banks do not immediately withdraw these draconian charges, the fight will not be limited to Vadodara but will take the form of a digital strike across Gujarat.

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