Chidambaram Among Five Congress MPs Who Backed UPI Revenue Framework
· India · Times of India, NDTV
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram and four other party MPs supported a parliamentary committee report recommending a calibrated revenue framework for UPI transactions. The Standing Committee on Finance report, presented to Parliament on August 12, called for a tiered Merchant Discount Rate to ensure financial sustainability without straining the government exchequer. The development emerged as Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi sharply criticized the Centre over the new MDR policy, terming it a UPI tax. The committee report noted that a massive Rs 2,000 crore budgetary allocation for 2026-27 covers only 11 percent of industry costs and 14 percent of potential MDR collections under the zero-MDR policy. Officials confirmed that the report, headed by BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, was adopted by the panel without any recorded dissent in the published minutes.
Why it matters
The revelation exposes a split within the opposition as prominent party figures endorsed the exact revenue framework that leadership is now publicly attacking.
Read the original report — Times of India
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