Centre rejects foreign influence claims over UPI fee as Rahul Gandhi seeks rollback

The government on Wednesday rejected claims that the decision to introduce a Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on certain high-value UPI transactions was driven by foreign influence, as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi demanded that the Centre immediately roll back the new fee.

The Ministry of Finance, in a post on X, said claims of foreign influence behind the change were false and stressed that India’s UPI policy decisions were made independently.