New Delhi, 15 September (H.S.):

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has alleged that the Central Government is preparing to impose charges on UPI transactions. He said a new notification issued under the amended Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, was a step in that direction.

In a post on the social media platform X on Tuesday, Jairam Ramesh said the government now appeared to be moving in the direction of the apprehension raised by the Congress on August 6, to which the Union Finance Minister had also responded. He said the new notification barred banks and service providers from levying charges only on UPI transactions below Rs. 2,000, but provided no clear protection with regard to transactions above that amount.

He alleged that this could pave the way for imposing charges on UPI transactions in the future. He said the threshold could subsequently be altered through another notification and that the government could, if it chose, even impose charges on routine person-to-person digital transactions.

Ramesh alleged that the government had failed to demonstrate honesty and transparency on the issue and had undermined the trust of people who use digital payments. He questioned whether the move was being undertaken with the aim of opening up the digital payments system to American companies and appeasing US President Donald Trump.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar