Finance minister says UPI charges won’t hit consumers

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has clarified that any future transaction charges on India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) would not be levied on consumers, following criticism from opposition leaders over proposed legislative changes. The clarification, made on August 6, addresses concerns that the government's Taxation and Other Laws Amendment Bill, 2026, could lead to higher costs for ordinary users.

The bill, currently before Parliament, seeks to amend the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. It would grant the central government the authority to modify the existing zero-Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) framework governing UPI and RuPay transactions. The MDR is a fee charged to merchants for processing digital payments. Sitharaman stated that no decision has been taken to introduce an MDR and that the issue would only be examined by a steering committee headed by the National Payments Corporation of India after the bill is passed.

Sitharaman directly responded to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who had argued that the legislative change removes a statutory guarantee of free transactions and would ultimately burden consumers as merchants pass on costs. The finance...