Congress questions Modi govt’s UPI MDR deferment, asks if another U-turn in the works

The Congress on Tuesday questioned whether the Narendra Modi government was preparing for another U-turn on the proposed Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions after deferring its implementation until after Diwali, weeks after announcing the charges despite earlier denials by the Finance Minister.

Congress general secretary (communications) and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh said the Finance Minister had denied plans to impose MDR on UPI on August 6 and again four days later in Parliament, but the government announced the proposed charges on September 15.