Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges for businesses with over ₹50 crore annual revenues will now be waived. The modes of payment will be notified soon, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced earlier in December after a review meeting with heads of public sector banks.In her Budget speech in July, she had proposed to waive MDR charges to spur digital payments.

The State Bank of India will introduce OTP-based ATM withdrawals for amounts above ₹10,000, in a bid to strengthen its security system. However, this facility will not be applicable for cash withdrawals at non-SBI ATMs, as this functionality has not been developed in the National Financial Switch.

China will lower tariffs on 805 products ranging from frozen pork, avocado and some types of semiconductors as Beijing looks to boost imports amid a slowing economy and a trade war with the US. Around 706 products were taxed at temporary rates in 2019.

Machine-readable GST e-invoicing will be introduced in the Goods and Services Tax System. A standardised protocol, powered by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and information technology, it will enable machines to read electronic invoices.

Workers in Kerala’s plantation sector are all set to receive a wage increase of ₹52 per day from now on, following the Plantation Labour Committee’s decision to hike wages in the tea, rubber, cardamom and coffee sectors.

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