India, Sept. 17 -- Amid the ongoing debate over the introduction of MDR on select UPI transactions, the finance ministry's Department of Financial Services (DFS) has said the move was not driven by "external pressure".

The clarification came after allegations linked the reintroduction of MDR on UPI to the US Trade Representative's (USTR) 2026 National Trade Estimate Report, which flagged India's digital payment policies as a barrier for foreign payment service providers.

In a statement, the DFS highlighted two concerns raised in the USTR report - the inability of US payment service providers to participate in the UPI ecosystem, including credit card transactions, on a level playing field with RuPay, and NPCI's proposed 30% market share ...