The government on Wednesday (September 16, 2026) questioned the rationale behind Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of the decision to levy a fee on UPI payments to merchants above ₹2,000 , saying a parliamentary standing committee had backed such a move and Congress members of the panel had supported it.
President Donald Trump and give a huge amount of money to America. The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha also demanded a rollback of the government’s decision to levy a fee on UPI payments. Five Congress MPs including P Chidambaram, Manish Tewari, Gaurav Gogoi, Kishori Lal and K Gopinath were present on August 12 when the report was adopted, with no dissent recorded in the published minutes, the functionary said. Reacting to the government’s decision to levy a fee on UPI payments above ₹2,000 to merchants, Mr. Earlier reporting noted: 5 Congress MPs On Parliament Panel That Sought Charge On UPI Payments, Did Not Dissent: Sources 5 Congress MPs On Parliament Panel That Sought Charge On UPI Payments, Did Not Dissent: Sources 5 Congress MPs On Parliament Panel That Sought Charge On UPI Payments, Did Not Dissent: Sources Earlier reporting noted: The parliamentary panel chaired by Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJP said tiered MDR be notified without delay, in observations in its 44th report in August.
The panel noted its earlier recommendation emphasising that due to the imperative of a viable revenue model, legislative-enabling provisions for a tiered MDR structure have been brought forward, according to the report of the standing committee headed by BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab.
A senior government functionary said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance had pressed for a tiered Merchant Discount Rate (MDR)/ revenue framework for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and noted that it should be notified and operationalised without delay. “Why is Rahul Gandhi opposing something his own MPs, including former finance minister P.Chidambaram and former minister in the UPA government Manish Tewari supported within the parliamentary panel,” the functionary asked. Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to “prostrate” before U.S. The committee would like to emphasise that establishing a viable revenue mechanism is critical to ensuring that the UPI ecosystem achieves financial sustainability without perpetually straining the government exchequer, it said. The parliamentary panel chaired by Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJP said tiered MDR be notified without delay, in observations in its 44th report in August.
Earlier reporting noted: Five Congress members did not record dissent when a parliamentary panel pressed for charges on certain business transactions via UPI in August, sources said on Wednesday, even though the Opposition party is now opposing the government’s move.
