Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 17 (PTI) Former Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday attacked the Centre over its decision to levy a fee on high-value UPI merchant transactions, calling it “daylight robbery”.
In a Facebook post, the Leader of Opposition said the government’s move to turn the UPI system into a source of huge profits for large fintech companies was unacceptable.
“After forcing people to shift to UPI transactions in the name of Digital India, the government is now trying to turn it into a source of revenue,” he alleged.
The Marxist veteran accused the Centre of protecting the interests of foreign financial agencies and private banks and questioned the purpose of the Digital India campaign launched after demonetisation.
Vijayan said UPI had been promoted by assuring people that transactions would remain completely free, following which ordinary people, unorganised workers and small traders had shifted largely to digital payments.
Describing the proposed 0.4 per cent fee on merchant transactions above Rs 2,000 as “daylight robbery”, he said the cost, though officially to be borne by merchants, would ultimately be passed on to consumers through higher prices.
“This would ultimately put the entire financial burden on the common people,” he said, alleging that the UPI charge came after banks had already been imposing minimum-balance penalties and ATM charges.
Vijayan urged the Centre to immediately withdraw what he described as a decision aimed at benefiting corporates at the expense of the people.
The Centre has introduced a 0.4 per cent Merchant Discount Rate on specified person-to-merchant UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 from October 15, ending the zero-MDR regime for such high-value merchant payments.
Person-to-person transactions will remain free, while payments to merchants up to Rs 2,000 and transactions covered under the zero-MDR framework for small merchants will also remain free.
The Finance Ministry on Wednesday rejected allegations of foreign influence behind the decision and said the new MDR framework was designed to provide a level playing field for stakeholders in the digital payments ecosystem. PTI LGK SSK
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