Ahmedabad: Gujarat Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP-led Centre of “betraying” people by introducing charges on high-value UPI merchant transactions, with party leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala, Amit Chavda and Tushar Chaudhary alleging that the move would ultimately increase burden on consumers.In a joint statement on Wednesday, the leaders cited the new 0.4% merchant discount rate (MDR) on UPI person-to-merchant transactions above Rs 2,000, scheduled to take effect from Oct 15.Congress alleged that the move marked a “digital U-turn” and would undermine govt’s earlier push for a cashless economy. It also claimed that the additional cost borne by merchants would eventually be passed on to customers.The party said UPI had become a critical component of India’s digital payments ecosystem, processing 24,162 crore transactions worth around Rs 314 lakh crore in 2025-26, according to govt data. Congress leaders also questioned Centre’s decision and alleged that the new framework could lead to wider charges on UPI transactions.
