Shiv Sena (UBT) on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Central government over the imposition of merchant discount rate (MDR) on select UPI transactions, alleging that the move will ultimately burden consumers and benefit global payments companies.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led party, in an editorial published in its mouthpiece Saamana, termed the imposition of 0.4 per cent charge on UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 as a “manipulation of words” and rejected the government's contention that the charge applies only to merchants and not directly to consumers.
Like excise duty and GST on fuel, traders will ultimately pass on these costs to common customers, the editorial said. It alleged that Indian digital transaction infrastructure was being handed over to global US financial companies like Visa and MasterCard.
It termed the transaction fee as an indirect “gift” or extortion to boost the US economy at the expense of India’s middle class and retailers.
Linking the change in domestic policy to foreign relations, the Thackeray faction claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly succumbed to American pressure. He cited examples like stopping oil purchases from Iran, confronting US trade tariffs and acceding to the Trump administration's diplomatic demands, which are evidence of compromise in foreign policy.
“The decision to impose 0.4 per cent charge on UPI transactions was taken only to appease US fintech companies. It should be investigated that Indian leaders and their children receive kickbacks worth thousands of crores of rupees daily from these companies,” the editorial said.
This means that Indian brokers also have to share in this extortion money they receive from America. This is the new form of national service! For this, common citizens of the country and small retailers have been sacrificed.”
Describing Vishwaguru's image as fragile and artificial, the editorial strongly criticized pro-government narratives that celebrated the adoption of UPI in countries like Singapore, UAE, Mauritius and Sri Lanka and contrasted these celebrations with the reality of domestic tariff hikes.
Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena stressed that even though the government claims to promote cashless and digital economy, it is exploiting the middle and working class through demonetisation, implementation of GST, inflation and now transaction fees. He said that under the guise of digital transformation, thousands of crores of rupees will be collected from citizens to benefit corporates and foreign middlemen.