BJP Questions Rahul Gandhi Over Congress MPs Backing UPI MDR
· India · India Today, Times of India
BJP sources have questioned Rahul Gandhi's opposition to the Centre's Merchant Discount Rate framework for UPI transactions, pointing out that five Congress MPs supported a tiered revenue model in a parliamentary report. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, which included former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Manish Tewari, Gaurav Gogoi, Kishori Lal and K Gopinath, adopted the report on August 12 without recorded dissent. The panel highlighted a funding gap between the Rs 2,000 crore budgetary allocation and the industry's estimated operational cost of Rs 20,700 crore. The committee warned that delays in operationalising a tiered revenue structure would leave payment service providers dependent on inadequate subsidies and threaten cybersecurity investments. The BJP questioned why Congress leadership is opposing a framework its senior members endorsed within Parliament.
Why it matters
The political dispute exposes internal divisions within the opposition over the financial sustainability of digital payment infrastructure in India.
Read the original report — India Today
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