Top 5 tech and startup stories of the day

1. PayU India CEO Anirban Mukherjee advocates for a simple pricing model for UPI charges, suggesting that the fee should be linked to the merchant size and industry. He believes this would help fund payment infrastructure, cybersecurity, and fraud management. Mukherjee also expects banks to invest more in UPI digitization if the MDR (Merchant Discount Rate) is implemented.

2. The Indian government has passed legislation allowing the Centre to change the zero-MDR framework for UPI transactions. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that low-value merchant payments and consumer payments would remain free under this new framework.

3. Quick commerce firms in India are expected to hire 35-40% more temporary workers during the festive season due to the growing demand for instant delivery. HR firms anticipate a surge in demand for workers skilled in warehouse management systems, automated pick-and-pack operations, inventory reconciliation, RFID/barcode scanning, and AI-based systems.

4. TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) received alerts alleging the exposure of some employee data, although there is no evidence of customer data or systems being affected. The data reportedly involved password spraying and multifactor authentication fatigue. This comes amid similar concerns raised by HCL Technologies over a hacker group claiming access to its employee data.

5. AI startups in India are attracting larger funding amounts at earlier stages, prompting venture capital firms to rethink their investment strategies. AI startups now raise an average of $3-5 million at the seed stage, compared to $2-4 million for other startups. At the Series A stage, AI startups raise $10 million or more, compared to $5-8 million for other startups.