Mayawati Slams Centre Over UPI Fee, Calls Move ‘Capitalist Profiteering’

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Friday criticised the Centre over its decision to introduce a 0.4 per cent fee on UPI merchant transactions above Rs 2,000, calling the move prima facie a “capitalist profiteering attitude”.

In a post on X in Hindi, Mayawati said the government had initially promoted digital transactions through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), but was now introducing charges on such transactions.

She said the proposed arrangement appeared to involve recovering money from people through what effectively amounted to an additional tax, which, she claimed, had caused concern and resentment among the public.

According to Mayawati, people would not readily accept a system that places an additional financial burden on them. She said that irrespective of the terminology used for the charge, the move would ultimately increase expenses for ordinary citizens.

The BSP chief also highlighted what she described as widespread poverty, inflation, unemployment and other socio-economic difficulties facing people and their families.

“In such circumstances, it would be appropriate for the government's policies and action plans to prioritise welfare over commercial profit-making,” she said, questioning who would address public hardships if the government did not.The Centre’s decision, announced on Tuesday, will end nearly six years of free UPI merchant payments by introducing the 0.4 per cent charge from October 15 for eligible transactions exceeding Rs 2,000.

However, the Finance Ministry has clarified that the proposed Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) will not be charged to customers making UPI payments.

“Customers will not be required to pay any charge when making such payments through UPI,” the ministry said, stressing that MDR is a charge within the merchant payment ecosystem and not a fee imposed on customers.

The government also said individuals would continue to have unlimited free UPI usage, with no monthly quotas, volume restrictions or tiered caps on free transactions.

The proposed fee has drawn criticism from several opposition parties, with Mayawati being among the latest leaders to voice objections.