‘Explore’ is not ‘support’: Congress rejects claim MPs backed UPI MDR

The Congress on Friday, 18 September termed parliamentary standing committee on finance chairperson Bhartruhari Mahtab's reported remarks on Opposition MPs' support for levying a merchant discount rate (MDR) on UPI (unified payments interface) transactions 'erroneous and fallacious', and said his being a '2024 Odisha cadre' of the BJP explained his eagerness to 'mislead'.

Congress MP Manish Tewari hit out at Mahtab, saying to suggest that "certain members" of the Opposition supported the proposal by not dissenting was "both unfounded and unfortunate and therefore incorrect".

Mahtab, who heads the parliamentary standing committee on finance, has said the Opposition MPs' presence and their being party to the panel's report were matters of record.

The BJP MP was quoted as saying in a media report that the record showed that three Opposition MPs — Trinamool Congress' Saugata Roy and Congress's Manish Tewari and Pramod Tiwari — were part of the deliberations that made the recommendations to levy MDR on UPI payments above Rs 2,000.

Reacting to Mahtab's remarks, Tewari said in a post on X: 'My attention has been drawn to some reports attributed to the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Finance @BhartruhariM that 'certain members' of the Opposition supported the proposal to "Merchant Discount Rate — MDR".'

He added: 'With great respect this is both erroneous and fallacious and therefore facetious.'

'The core of the Committee's recommendation while examining and reporting on the Demands of the Department of Financial Services — DFS for FY 2026-27 on 12th March 2026 is as follows: "The Committee recommend that while the proposed 3-year multi-year scheme and cash back components are necessary to democratise digital payments in untapped Tier 3-6 cities, the Department of Financial Services must concurrently explore a self-reliant, tiered revenue model",' Tewari said in his post.

The Congress leader pointed out that the key word was 'explore'. He also pointed to the 'action taken' report filed by the government on the observations or recommendations contained in the 32nd Report of the Standing Committee on Finance on 'Demands for Grants (2026-27)' of the Ministry of Finance (Department of Financial Services), laid on the floor of the Lok Sabha on 12 August.

'Given the sustainability of the UPI ecosystem and the burden on the Government exchequer, the Department is currently exploring two options: (i) Examining the feasibility of restoring MDR for certain high threshold transactions/merchants; and (ii) a tiered incentive structure to phase-out the Government support in the next few years,' Tewari quoted the government as saying.

He said the key words again were 'currently exploring'.

The current proposal to levy a transaction fee or MDR on UPI and other digital payments never came before the committee thereafter, he said.

'To suggest 'certain members' of the opposition supported the proposal by not dissenting is both unfounded and unfortunate and therefore incorrect. Thank you for your attention to this matter,' the MP from Chandigarh said.

Tagging Tewari's remarks, Congress Rajya Sabha MP and general-secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said in an X post: 'The Chairperson, otherwise a seasoned and sober Parliamentarian, is 2024 batch Odisha cadre of the BJP. This explains his eagerness to mislead and misinform.'

Mahtab switched over to the BJP from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress on Thursday rejected claims that its MPs who were part of the parliamentary standing committee on finance had supported the decision to levy a fee on high-value UPI payments and said the Modi government was making 'pathetic' attempts to divert attention from the 'gigantic backlash' generated after the 'UPI tax' decision.

The Opposition party's assertion came after the government questioned the rationale behind Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the decision to levy a fee on UPI payments to merchants above Rs 2,000, saying the parliamentary panel had backed the move and the Congress members on the panel had supported it.

A senior government functionary had said the parliamentary standing committee on finance had pressed for a tiered MDR or revenue framework for UPI and noted that it should be notified and operationalised without delay.

Five Congress MPs — P. Chidambaram, Tewari, Gaurav Gogoi, Kishori Lal and K. Gopinath — were present on 12 August when the report was adopted, with no dissent recorded in the published minutes, the functionary had said.