New Delhi, Oct. 13 -- Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday questioned the "u-turn" of the central government, stating that the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on select UPI transactions, which was scheduled to come into effect from October 15, has been deferred until after Diwali.

In an X post, Ramesh pointed out how Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman explicitly denied plans to impose MDR on UPI in Parliament earlier, stating that no framework had been finalised.

Ramesh added that afterwards the Centre took a "U-turn" and issued notifications under the amended Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, introducing charges on select Person-to-Merchant (P2M) UPI transactions above 2,000 rupees.

"On Aug 6, 2026, and again fo...