Firozabad traders protest against 0.4% UPI MDR tax

Firozabad, October 13, 2026: Traders in Firozabad staged a large protest demonstration near the Ghantaghar square at Sadar Bazaar to oppose the 0.4% MDR tax imposed on UPI transactions. The demonstration was organized following an appeal from the provincial leadership. The event was held under the guidance of District President Pandit Ravindra Lal Tiwari and the leadership of City President Dr. Sunil Agrawal.

Following the protest, a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister was submitted through City Magistrate Vinod Kumar Pandey. In addition to the tax issue, the traders submitted a formal written list of local concerns to City Magistrate Vinod Kumar Pandey. A separate memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister was also handed over to Satendra Kumar Soli, the representative of local MP Akshay Yadav, as the MP was absent.

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The memorandum detailed several local requirements ahead of the Diwali festival. Traders requested that proper cleaning arrangements be implemented across all markets. They specifically urged that garbage collection vehicles clear waste by 10 AM daily to prevent the recurring problem of traffic congestion. Citing the long-standing economic slowdown in the markets, the traders requested that no departmental actions—such as GST raids, inspections by the food department, or actions by the Weights and Measures Department—be conducted during the festive season.

To manage the expected festive rush, the traders demanded that the entry of auto-rickshaws and heavy vehicles be prohibited in the markets for five days, spanning from Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj. They also urged the Nagar Nigam and the District Magistrate to strongly represent the administration’s position in court to expedite the reconstruction of the Ghantaghar, which they described as a long-standing heritage of Firozabad. Furthermore, the traders requested adequate police deployment at all major intersections to prevent traffic jams during the festival.

Regarding the Navdurga Puja festival, the memorandum called for immediate road cleaning, patch repair work, and the maintenance of street lights, with a demand for new installations in areas where lighting is insufficient. The memorandum concluded with an appeal for these local issues to be addressed with urgency.

The demonstration saw participation from a wide group of local traders, including Kaushal Kishore Upadhyay, Alkar Chaudhary, Sanjay Gupta, Rambabu Jha, Arjesh Upadhyay, Pawan Dixit, Dinesh Yadav, Vijay Bhavani, Bhanu Upadhyay, Naveen Upadhyay, Rajpal Yadav, Gaurav Jain, Prabhakar Verma, Inam Singh, Pratap Prajapati, Radha Mohan Sharma, Gopal Sharma, Rakesh Babu Sharma, Sunil Jain, Rajkumar Singh, Mehtab Qureshi, Usman Khan, Pramod Ojha, Anwar Singh Yadav, Sanjeev Yadav, Himesh Verma, Nikhil Gupta, Zakir Pehalwan, Sajid Qureshi, Akash Sharma, Deepak Gupta, Shanti Prasad Agrawal, Inderjeet Singh, Manish Agrawal Monu, Shahid, Rajesh Dubey Adarsh, Shanti Prasad Agrawal, Ramgopal, Rajneesh Yadav, Himesh Verma, Sufian Qureshi, Brijmohan Sharma, Dharmendra Yadav, Jogendra Singh Yadav, and Dinesh Kumar.