Supreme Court to hear plea challenging government UPI MDR
The Supreme Court is set to hear a plea on September 28 challenging the government's decision to add a fee (called merchant discount rate, or MDR) on specified UPI person-to-merchant transactions above ₹2,000.
The petition argues these new rules, which kick in from October 15, were made without enough public input or legal safeguards and could be unfair.
Petition highlights 0.4% fee, RuPay exemption
Under this framework, specified UPI person-to-merchant transactions over ₹2,000 will face a 0.4% fee (capped at ₹300), while sectors like railways and telecom get a flat ₹5 charge. securities trades pay just 0.02%, also capped at ₹300.
The petition points out that RuPay debit cards are exempt from these fees, which could hurt small merchants relying on UPI.
The court is being asked to reconsider if these changes really help merchants and users.