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Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday demanded an immediate rollback of what he described as “UPI tax” — the framework
that brings changes to how certain merchant transactions are charged when making a UPI payment. Invoking former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the Congress leader accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of putting a tax on every single Indian person by taxing UPI and "giving huge amount of money to the United States". Taking to X, Rahul Gandhi shared a video message and captioned his post, “Modi ji, roll back the UPI tax. Now."
The Congress leader's remarks came after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced on Tuesday a 0.4% merchant discount rate (MDR) on UPI transactions above Rs 2,000, capped at Rs 300 per transaction.
A flat Rs 5 charge will apply to utility bill payments, fuel purchases, insurance premiums, railway tickets and several government services.
Rahul Accuses PM Modi Of ‘Surrendering’ Before US
Attacking Prime Minister Modi over the government's new framework allowing MDR charges on certain UPI transactions, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused him of “surrendering” before the United States. Referring to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi while drawing a comparison with PM Modi over the new UPI measures, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said, “Indiraji was once asked whether she leaned to the left or the right. Her response was, ‘I don't go left or right, I stand straight.’”Taking a swipe at PM Modi, Rahul said, “Modiji is completely different. He is neither left nor right. He has decided to lie down straight and prostrate himself in front of Donald Trump.”
The Congress leader also alleged that the government's UPI policy would effectively impose a burden on Indians. “He (PM Modi) has put a tax on every single Indian person by taxing UPI and giving huge amounts of money to the United States,” he added.
The Congress leader urged PM Modi to “stop lying down in front of the United States” and asked him to “have a spine” and withdraw the UPI charge.
