A customer holds up a phone in your shop and points it at the counter. Your bank's app reads the code, so does the other bank's, and so does a wallet you have never heard of. That is the idea of the unified QR code, UzQR: one code, any app. But whose job is it to get the code, keep it working and pay you the money?
Short answer: under Presidential Decree PF-246 of 10 December 2025 (point 3), from 1 July 2026 accepting payments through the unified QR code is mandatory for all legal entities in trade and services, and not using it counts as a breach of trade rules. The detail of who does what sits in the Central Bank's rules, reg. 3817.
Who is who
The rules name five roles. Knowing them tells you whom to call when something breaks.
| Role | What it is |
|---|---|
| Payee (you) | A company, a sole trader, a self-employed person, or a receiver of state-budget payments that sells through the code |
| Acquirer | The bank that registers you, generates your code, settles the money and keeps your account |
| Acquirer's agent | A payment organization that identifies you and passes your data to the acquirer |
| Payer's app (the rules call it the initiator) | The bank or payment organization whose app your customer scans with |
| Operator | Runs the QR system, forms the clearing data for final settlements, keeps the register of codes |
What each side must do
| Who | Duty | Rules |
|---|---|---|
| Payee | Sign an acquiring contract (in writing or electronically) and keep a bank account with the acquirer. Show the printed static code, or the dynamic code on your device. Check the payment status. Tell the acquirer within 3 bank working days if your type of activity changes | pp. 12, 16, 30 |
| Acquirer | Give you the static code printed or electronic, or a dynamic code on your device. Enter your merchant category code (MCC); update it within 1 working day of your notice. Explain to you how to use the code and what follows from not using or damaging it. Offer remote banking with transaction status, a receipt for each payment, history, support, and complaint tracking | pp. 12–18 |
| Agent | Identify you under the AML/CFT rules and send the data to the acquirer through the system. Give you a personal cabinet with payment monitoring and reports | pp. 22, 25 |
| Payer's app | Put the scan button on the home page. Show your name, let the customer enter or see the amount, show any commission before payment, confirm, then show the result and a receipt. Keep payment history, support, and in-app complaints | pp. 27–28 |
| Operator | Run the system, keep one register of codes, monitor payments in real time, form clearing data for both banks, publish technical documents and tariffs on its website | pp. 4–10, 31 |
Two details are good to know. A dynamic code has a validity period and a one-time identifier, and an expired code cannot be paid (p. 32). A printed code must meet the operator's visual requirements for size, color, and readability, and the acquirer may add a hologram (p. 15).
What it costs
The rules set no percentage. The acquirer may charge you a fee under your contract, within the tariff plan approved by the operator, and must tell you of tariff changes at least 15 days ahead (p. 17). The operator publishes its tariffs on its website within 3 working days of approving them, and they apply only 15 days after publication and notice to participants (p. 10). Read the tariff, not a news summary: figures quoted in the press differ.
Can you leave?
Yes. You may end the acquiring contract at any time by application, and that is the ground for disconnecting your account from the system. If you move the account that your code is linked to into another bank, the contract is treated as ended (p. 19). On our reading, your printed code then stops working too: ask the new bank for a new one.
What the law does not say
- Fines. The decree says only that not using the unified code is a breach of trade rules. We found no specific fine for a company in the parsed acts, and we have not checked the administrative-liability code at article level. Ask before you assume a number.
- Other QR codes. Neither the decree nor the rules ban other payment codes. They say nothing either way about keeping them next to UzQR. On our reading, you may keep them, but the unified code must be there.
- Sole traders and the self-employed. The rules treat them as payees, but whether a separate special QR applies to them is a tax-law question we did not verify here.
Questions
Who must accept UzQR? All legal entities in trade and services, from 1 July 2026 (PF-246, point 3).
Who pays the commission? The rules do not name a payer or a percentage. The acquirer may charge you under the contract and the operator's tariffs (reg. 3817, p. 17). The payer's app must show any commission before the customer pays (p. 28).
Will my customer's app read the code? The rules require the payer's app to offer scanning (p. 27). Participants are the acquirers, agents, and the payers' banks or payment organizations that signed a contract with the operator (p. 1); an app outside the system is not covered by these rules.
Can I stop using it? You can end the contract (p. 19), but then you have no unified code. On our reading, for a legal entity in trade that is the breach the decree names.
What to do now
- Ask your bank whether it is your acquirer under the Central Bank rules, and get the tariff plan in writing.
- Check the contract: fee, notice of changes, termination, and what happens to your code if you change banks.
- Put the code where customers pay. Print it to the operator's visual standard, or connect the dynamic code to your till.
- Tell the bank within 3 bank working days if your line of business changes.
- Related: sending money by phone number follows its own Central Bank procedure from 26 November.
- Running a payment app or an acquiring product? See our fintech product advisory.
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