Congress questions Parliamentary panel chief’s claim on UPI MDR collection

Congress president Manish Tewari said the committee’s recommendation was only to “explore” the revenue model for sustaining the UPI ecosystem. | Photo credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

The Congress on Friday (September 18, 2026) disputed the reported claim of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance Chairman Bhartruhari Mahtab that opposition members supported the panel’s recommendation to look into the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on high-value UPI transactions, calling the claim “erroneous and misleading”.

Congress MP Manish Tewari, a member of the committee, said the suggestion that opposition MPs supported the motion by not registering dissent was “baseless and unfortunate”.

“With great respect, it is both wrong and wrong and therefore fabricated,” Mr Tewari said, referring to a BJP MP’s claim that Congress MPs on the panel supported the move.

“Explore” only

Responding to reports quoting Mr. Mahtab as saying that the presence of opposition members and their participation in the panel’s report were on record, Mr. Tewari said the committee’s recommendation was only to “explore” the revenue model for sustaining the UPI ecosystem.

“The gist of the committee’s recommendation… is as follows: ‘The committee recommends that while the proposed 3-year multi-year scheme and cash back components are necessary to democratize digital payments in untapped tier 3-6 cities, the Ministry of Financial Services must simultaneously explore a self-sustaining, tiered revenue model,'” he said in a post on X.

Mr Tewari said the government’s follow-up action report, tabled in the Lok Sabha on August 12, similarly said the financial services ministry was “currently exploring” two options — reinstating the MDR for certain high-threshold transactions and adopting a tiered incentive structure to phase out government support.

“The key word is ‘explore’,” he said, adding that the proposal to actually charge a transaction fee or MDR on UPI and other digital payments subsequently never came up before the committee.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh, flagging Mr. Tewari’s post, said Mr. Mahtab was “otherwise a seasoned and sober MP, but he is a BJP Batch Odisha cadre of 2024”. “That explains his desire to mislead and misinform,” Mr. Ramesh said on X.

The Congress on Thursday also rejected the government’s claim that its MPs supported the UPI charges proposal.

Published – 18 Sep 2026 22:10 IST