India, Aug. 11 -- Indian customers will continue to use instant digital payments without paying any transaction charge, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured the Parliament on Monday, saying no fee will be charged from street hawkers, cab drivers, kirana stores and small merchants for using unified payments interface (UPI).

Referring to the "most discussed and debated point" pertaining to merchant discount rate (MDR) in the proposed umbrella legislation - the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 - she said the Bill that has been passed by the Lok Sabha, "proposes to amend Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007" and the amendment is "an enabling" provision. MDR is a fee charged to a merchant by a...