Prayagraj: City Congress Committee members have expressed deep resentment over the proposed imposition of Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) up to 0.4% on UPI payments exceeding Rs. 2,000 by the Central Government and demanded its withdrawal. On the call of the U P Congress Committee, party workers, led by City Congress President Fuzail Hashmi, protested against the potential indirect impact of the proposed tax, calling it a burden on the pockets of the common people.

As part of the protest, Congress workers, along with traders, took out a procession from Seva Samiti Inter College, Rambagh, and reached the residence of BJP MLA  Harshvardhan Bajpai , in his absence, Congress men symbolically gifted puja items worth over Rs.2000 purchased through UPI, carrying the proposed UPI tax on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday to make the government realise the reality of its decision.

The Congress leaders stated that since UPI accounts for 65% of total transactions, the burden of the proposed tax would ultimately fall on customers. They questioned the government’s claims and asked, “Where will the fee imposed on shopkeepers come from?”

They asserted that just as the government had to withdraw the three farm laws, it would also be forced to withdraw this proposed provision. They further pointed out that if consumers feel digital payments are becoming increasingly expensive, they may return to cash payments, potentially reversing the shift towards digital transactions. Kishore Varshney, Harikesh Tripathi, Vijay Mishra,Anoop Tripathi, Arshad Ali,Vinay Dubey, Afrooz Ahmed,Pratima Tripathi,Nayan Kushwaha , Madhavi Madhavi Rai, Mohd.Shariq , Kamaal Ali, Rakesh Srivastava and others were present.