FM Dismisses Allegations Of Levying MDR On UPI Transactions Under External Pressure
Headline by Prism · from 1 report
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman denies claims that the new Merchant Discount Rate on UPI transactions was influenced by external pressure.
Deccan ChronicleThe brief
Written by software from the 1 report below.
- The Indian government is implementing a 0.4 percent Merchant Discount Rate on specific Unified Payments Interface transactions exceeding Rs 2,000 starting October 15.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated the decision was made by the payment ecosystem, including the National Payments Corporation of India, rather than under foreign pressure.
- The minister clarified the fee is not a tax and will be distributed among banks and payment service providers.
- Merchants will bear the cost of this fee for qualifying transactions instead of consumers.
What to watch next
- Implementation of the new UPI MDR charges starting October 15
- Further political reactions from opposition parties
The points restate the reports; where one says why it matters, that is Prism's reading, not a reported fact.
Who said what
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Nirmala Sitharaman
Union finance minister
2 quotes · 1 outlet
“Absolutely baseless. And I totally deny it”
In the article
…banks, and not imposed by the government. However, she rubbished the Opposition's allegations that the government had yielded to foreign pressure, saying the MDR was not a tax and would not accrue to the government. “ Absolutely baseless. And I totally deny it ," she said when asked about Opposition allegations that the decision on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) MDR was taken under external pressure, particularly from the US. The Opposition was ‘searching for issues’ and…
“this is not a tax, this is not a cess, this is not even a surcharge. And the collection is not coming to the Consolidated Fund of India.”
In the article
…and making allegations without fully understanding the matter,” the finance minister said. Also dismissing criticism by Opposition parties, including the Congress, that it is a tax on consumers, Sitharaman said, ‘ this is not a tax, this is not a cess, this is not even a surcharge. And the collection is not coming to the Consolidated Fund of India. ” The collected amount, she said, will be shared among banks and other entities in the UPI ecosystem. “Of the MDR collected, 40 per cent will go to customers' banks, 30 per cent to payment gateways, 20 per cent to the…
Coverage
1 outlet
All filed from India
NamedIndia · Unified Payments Interface · Congress · Government of India · National Payments Corporation of India · Nirmala Sitharaman
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