---
title: "Supreme Court PIL Challenges UPI Charges Above ₹2,000; RSS-Affiliated Body Seeks Reconsideration"
english_title: "Supreme Court PIL Challenges 0.4% UPI MDR on Payments Above ₹2,000"
publisher: "Truevision English News"
canonical_url: "https://english.truevisionnews.com/news/383024/supreme-court-pil-challenges-upi-mdr-above-2000"
published_at: "2026-09-17T06:13:00+05:30"
category: "International"
language: "en"
image: "https://cf.zdn.im/img/truevisionnews.com/0/image-uploads/6aab3cce17c1a_supreme-court-pil-challenges-upi-mdr-above-2000.jpg"
keywords: ["UPI MDR", "Supreme Court PIL", "UPI charges", "Digital Payments", "rss"]
---

# Supreme Court PIL Challenges UPI Charges Above ₹2,000; RSS-Affiliated Body Seeks Reconsideration

> **Lead Summary:** **New Delhi: **A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Centre’s decision to introduce a 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate on specified UPI person-to-merchant transactions above ₹2,000 from October 15. The petition was filed by advocate Anjan Datta, who has questioned the manner in which the new charges were introduced, alleging a lack of adequate statutory safeguards, transparency and public consultation.

## Article Content

**New Delhi: **A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Centre’s decision to introduce a 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate on specified UPI person-to-merchant transactions above ₹2,000 from October 15. The petition was filed by advocate Anjan Datta, who has questioned the manner in which the new charges were introduced, alleging a lack of adequate statutory safeguards, transparency and public consultation.

The new framework applies to eligible person-to-merchant (P2M) UPI transactions exceeding ₹2,000. UPI person-to-person (P2P) transactions will continue to remain free irrespective of the transaction value, while payments to merchants up to ₹2,000 will also remain free under the applicable framework.

Under the new system, the MDR for specified merchant transactions above ₹2,000 will be 0.4%, with the charge capped at ₹300 per transaction for payments of ₹75,000 or more. Certain essential and thin-margin sectors, including railways, telecommunications, insurance, fuel and agricultural inputs, will have a flat MDR of ₹5 for transactions above ₹2,000.

Government sources have said there is no question of rolling back the decision. According to the government, the measure is intended to support the security, technological infrastructure and long-term sustainability of the UPI ecosystem.

The decision has also drawn criticism from the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an economic wing associated with the RSS. Its co-convener Ashwani Mahajan described the move as unfortunate and argued that UPI has helped reduce ATM and other infrastructure-related costs. He has called for the decision to be reconsidered.

MDR refers to the service fee charged within the merchant payment ecosystem by banks and payment service providers in connection with digital transactions. The government has clarified that MDR is not a fee collected by the government or NPCI and that customers are not directly charged MDR under the new framework.

The latest framework follows an amendment to the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, which provided the legal basis for specifying electronic payment systems where charges can be waived or applied under notified conditions.The Supreme Court PIL will now put the legal basis and implementation of the new UPI MDR framework under judicial scrutiny.

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