Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday dismissed Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's assertion that ordinary consumers could eventually be made to pay more for UPI transactions, clarifying that any Merchant Discount Rate (MDR), if introduced in the future, would be applicable only to merchants and not to customers.
The clarification comes amid political debate over proposed legislative changes that could give the Centre the authority to modify the existing zero-MDR framework for UPI and RuPay transactions. Sitharaman also stressed that no decision has yet been taken on introducing an MDR.
Responding to Jairam Ramesh's criticism through a post on X, the finance minister said there was no basis for claims that consumers would bear the cost of any future MDR.