A day after the National Payments Corporation of India announced that UPI person-to-merchant transactions over Rs 2,000 would attract a fee of 0.4 per cent , the Merchant Discount Rate, from October 15, the government came under fire Wednesday from the Opposition which demanded that the decision be rolled back immediately. Opposition parties led by the Congress alleged that the MDR decision had been taken under “American pressure” and allowed “US card companies to compete with UPI”. Rejecting the Opposition allegations, the Ministry of Finance said, “Some claims suggest the change is due to foreign influence. This is false. India’s UPI policy decisions are made independently, with the clear goal of building a self-sustaining, inclusive, and affordable digital payments ecosystem.” “UPI continues to be free for customers. Sending money to friends, paying at shops, or scanning a QR code – all remain without charges,” the Ministry said in a post on X. Modi ji, roll back the UPI tax. Now. pic.twitter.com/IIt46zMgCG — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 16, 2026 Targeting the Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, said “stop lying down in front of the US, have a spine, stand up” and roll back the “UPI tax”. In a video in which he is seen standing before a portrait of his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, he said, “Indira ji was once asked whether she leans left or right and her response was ‘I don’t lean left, I don’t lean right, I stand straight’. Modi ji has a completely different concept, he is neither left nor right, he has decided to lie down straight and prostrate himself in front of Donald Trump .” “He has put a tax on Every single Indian person by taxing UPI and giving a huge amount of money to the United States,” Gandhi alleged. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who is Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha , too targeted the Prime Minister. In a post on X, he said, “Your dear friend ‘Abki Baar Trump Sarkar’ dictates, you capitulate and 140 cr Indians are left to bear the consequences! The threat of up to 100% US tariffs on Indian goods shows how your Govt’s foreign and trade policies have miserably failed…Yesterday’s surrender on the MDR on UPI is another stark example of your govt’s meekness! From tariffs and trade to H1B immigration, visas and digital payments, the pressure from Washington keeps mounting, and you, ‘Howdy Modi ji’ keeps surrendering!” SP president Akhilesh Yadav said, “The BJP, in its pursuit of earning from others’ earnings, is now about to charge fees for payments made via UPI. Will a trillion-dollar economy be built this way? The BJP, which is now squeezing money even from payment gateways, has turned into a chungi-jeevi’ (toll collector).” AAP MP Sanjay Singh, referring to the Prime Minister’s description of his critics as ‘naaraaz fufa’, said, “Fufa is cunning too, so he will say that tax will be imposed on the trader. Now, the trader isn’t your relative, so he will sell you expensive goods. This tax has been brought under pressure from America.” Targeting the government, RJD leader Manoj Jha said, “This is not a decision taken of their own accord, with their own wisdom. When we talk about American imperialism, this is like bowing down before it.” CPI general secretary D Raja demanded that the government withdraw the “anti-people decision” and keep UPI transactions free. The government, he said, claims that consumers will not be charged, but experience shows that merchants always find ways to pass on new costs to consumers.
