NEW DELHI — Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday lashed out at the Centre over its decision to impose fees on UPI transactions above Rs 2,000.
In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said: “The Modi government has quietly opened the door to imposing fees on UPI.”
“Now, MDR can be levied on merchant UPI transactions above Rs. 2,000. Even if these transactions account for just 5% of the volume, they make up nearly 65% of UPI’s total transaction value,” he said.
Gandhi said: “But where will the fees imposed on shopkeepers ultimately come from? Added to prices, straight out of the customer’s pocket.”
“American payment companies have long opposed India’s zero-MDR policy. Now, the Modi government has opened the path to changing the policy in exactly that direction,” the Congress leader alleged.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Tuesday said that it has revised the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) framework for select UPI transactions, under which charges will apply to certain merchant payments above Rs 2,000, while small merchants and low-value transactions will continue to benefit from zero MDR.
