New Delhi, September 18, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday opposed the proposed Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on select UPI transactions, saying any additional financial burden associated with digital payments could ultimately affect common people and increase their expenses.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced a 0.4 per cent MDR on specified person-to-merchant (P2M) UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 from October 15. The charge is to be borne by merchants, while person-to-person transactions and UPI payments up to Rs 2,000 will remain free of MDR. The fee will also be capped at Rs 300 for transactions of Rs 75,000 and above.
Reacting to the decision in a post on X, Mayawati said that even if the proposed charge was not formally described as a tax, changing its nomenclature would not alter its impact.
She said the move, coming after the government had promoted digital payments through UPI, could create public unease. Mayawati argued that people could ultimately bear the impact if businesses pass on their additional costs.
The BSP chief also referred to the economic difficulties faced by a large section of the population, citing poverty and inflation as concerns. She said government policies should remain more welfare-oriented and less commercial, particularly when many families continue to face challenges related to education and employment.
Mayawati also welcomed the Uttar Pradesh government’s announcement to convert around 14,500 schools into smart schools at an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore.
However, she said modernising schools should go hand in hand with meeting basic educational needs. She highlighted the need for proper school buildings, benches and chairs, books, toilets, playgrounds and cleanliness, and questioned whether all these requirements could be adequately addressed with an allocation of around Rs 2 lakh per school.
The government has maintained that the new MDR is a merchant-side charge and that consumers will continue to make UPI payments without a transaction fee.
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