New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday accused the Congress of spreading “fake news” about UPI transaction charges, saying the government has made it absolutely clear that merchant discount rate (MDR) charges will not be levied on consumers.
This came after the Congress attacked the Centre over its notification on UPI transactions, with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleging that it has quietly paved the way for imposing fees on such transactions and that a “compromised” Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “once again surrendering” to pressure from the US.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari hit back at the Congress, calling the opposition party a “jhooth ki dukaan (shop of lies)”.
“Congress is once again spreading fake news. 96 per cent of UPI merchant (P2M) transactions are Rs 2,000 or below, and they are 100 per cent charge-free. RuPay debit-card payments remain charge-free. Consumers pay zero transaction charge. P2P UPI transactions remain completely free,” he said in a post on X.
“The Government has made it absolutely clear: MDR charges will NOT be levied on consumers,” the BJP leader added.
In a gazette notification, the government has 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 apply 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.
According to sources, a panel comprising representatives of banks, service providers and various associations would soon take a call on charges to be levied on UPI payments above Rs 2,000 to merchants. The UPI & Services Steering Committee has 22 members, including Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and Payments Council of India (PCI).
The principal opposition Congress raised questions over the government’s notification on UPI transactions, claiming the stage is clearly being set for people to pay a fee for such transactions.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Modi government’s “loot” has now reached UPI.
“The finance minister had recently stated in Parliament that no tax or charges would be levied on UPI, but according to several reports a potential collection of Rs 25 on a Rs 5,000 transaction and up to Rs 50 on Rs 10000 could be made,” Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X, and asked whether it was true.
Terming the Congress’ claims as “completely false”, BJP leader Amit Malviya said there is no government order stipulating that Rs 25 will be levied on a Rs 5,000 payment or Rs 50 on a Rs 10,000 payment.
“The notification dated September 14 merely clarified the ‘zero-charge protection’ for UPI and RuPay transactions up to Rs 2,000. No 0.5 per cent charge has been fixed for UPI payments exceeding Rs 2,000,” he said in a post on X.
“Most importantly, no charges are being levied on UPI users. Person-to-person UPI transactions remain free, regardless of the amount. The government has clarified that even if an MDR is introduced in the future, it will apply to specific merchant transactions, not to the consumer,” he added.
Malviya alleged that figures of Rs 25 and Rs 50 cited by the Congress are “fabricated calculations based on a hypothetical 0.5 per cent rate”.
“In reality, the government itself is providing incentives to the payment ecosystem to keep UPI free. Between FY22 and FY24, the government provided incentives amounting to Rs 1,389 crore, Rs 2,210 crore, and Rs 3,631 crore, respectively. Incentive support of Rs 2,196.21 crore was provided for 2025-26 and Rs 2,000 crore has been budgeted for FY27,” he said.
