Delhi. Congress on Tuesday alleged that preparations are being made to impose duty on UPI transactions and that “compromised” Prime Minister Narendra Modi has surrendered to the US on this issue like the trade agreement. Former party president Rahul Gandhi also claimed that the number of merchant UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 may be around five per cent, but their share in the total transaction value of UPI is around 65 per cent and the burden will ultimately fall on the customers' pockets through increase in prices.
What did Rahul Gandhi say?
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi posted on 'X' regarding this, “The government says that no fee will be charged from the customer, but where will the fee charged on the shopkeeper come from?” By adding to the price and into the customer's pocket.” He alleged that American payment companies have been opposing India's zero MDR policy for a long time and now the Modi government has opened the way to change the policy in exactly the same direction.
Accused of pressure from American companies
Gandhi said, “Just like the trade agreement with the US, the compromised Prime Minister Modi is once again surrendering to American pressure.” Taking a dig at the government, he said that despite not charging the customer directly, the additional burden on the trader will ultimately be passed on to the consumer.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's target on the government
He posted on 'X' and said that the government has taken a step towards not imposing charges on UPI transactions up to Rs 2,000 by changing the system of “no charges on UPI”. Kharge claimed that a possible recovery of Rs 25 can be made on a transaction of Rs 5,000 and Rs 50 on a transaction of Rs 10,000. He questioned the government whether this is really proposed?
The Congress President said that if the additional burden of MDR (Trade Concession Rate) is imposed on traders, it will ultimately be included in the prices of goods and services and recovered from the common consumer. He alleged that instead of providing relief to the people troubled by inflation, the government is preparing to put additional burden on their pockets.
Kharge said, “Demonetization was introduced 10 years ago as a measure to promote digital payments and cashless economy. In such a situation, the possible arrangement of imposing charges on UPI raises questions on the policy of the government.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh also questioned the government in this matter whether this step is being taken with the aim of opening the way to India's digital payments sector for American companies and to please President Donald Trump. Ramesh alleged that “clearly the ground is being prepared for charging fees on UPI transactions from all of us.”
Opposition's controversy after Centre's notice
The government has directed banks and payment system providers not to charge any charges on UPI transactions up to Rs 2,000 or payments made through RuPay debit cards. The government, however, did not clarify whether the charge would be applicable on transactions above Rs 2,000 and whether it would have to be paid by merchants or not. As of now there are no charges on UPI transactions of any amount.