Government functionary questions Rahul's criticism of UPI charges, says Congress MPs in panel gave nod

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The government on Wednesday (September 16, 2026) questioned the rationale behind Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the decision to levy a fee on UPI payments to merchants above ₹2,000 , saying a parliamentary standing committee had backed such a move and Congress members of the panel had supported it.

A senior government functionary said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance had pressed for a tiered Merchant Discount Rate (MDR)/ revenue framework for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and noted that it should be notified and operationalised without delay.

Also Read | Opposition MPs raise concerns over proposed UPI merchant payment fee

Five Congress MPs including P Chidambaram, Manish Tewari, Gaurav Gogoi, Kishori Lal and K Gopinath were present on August 12 when the report was adopted, with no dissent recorded in the published minutes, the functionary said.

"Why is Rahul Gandhi opposing something his own MPs, including former finance minister P.Chidambaram and former minister in the UPA government Manish Tewari supported within the parliamentary panel," the functionary asked.

Reacting to the government's decision to levy a fee on UPI payments above ₹2,000 to merchants, Mr. Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to "prostrate" before U.S.