NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused the government of quietly paving the way for imposing fees on UPI transactions, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “once again surrendering” to American pressure.
In a post on X, Gandhi said, “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,” Gandhi said.
His attack came after the government directed banks and payment system providers not to levy charges on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions of up to Rs 2,000 or on payments made through RuPay debit cards.
However, the government has not specified whether charges would be applicable to transactions above Rs 2,000, to be paid by merchants. So far, there has been no charge on UPI transactions, irrespective of the amount. He also asked if this is being done to open digital payments for American firms to “appease” US President Donald Trump.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said, “Just as we warned on August 6, 2026, the government is now using new laws bulldozed through Parliament to start the process of charging for UPI. A notification has just been issued that prohibits banks and providers from charging only for UPI transactions under `2000. But there is no protection for any transaction above this cap.”