Prayagraj, 18 Sept (HS): City Congress Committee members

have expressed deep resentment over the proposed imposition of Merchant

Discount Rate (MDR) up to 0.4% on UPI payments exceeding Rs. 2,000 by the

Central Government and demanded its withdrawal.

On the call of the U P Congress Committee, party workers,

led by City Congress President Fuzail Hashmi, protested against the potential

indirect impact of the proposed tax, calling it a burden on the pockets of the

common people.

As part of the protest, Congress workers, along with

traders, took out a procession from Seva Samiti Inter College, Rambagh, and

reached the residence of BJP MLA Harshvardhan

Bajpai , in his absence, Congress men symbolically gifted puja items worth over

Rs.2000 purchased through UPI , carrying the proposed UPI tax on Prime Minister

Narendra Modi’s birthday to make the government realise the reality of its

decision.

The Congress leaders stated that since UPI accounts for 65%

of total transactions, the burden of the proposed tax would ultimately fall on

customers. They questioned the government’s claims and asked, “Where will the

fee imposed on shopkeepers come from?” They asserted that just as the

government had to withdraw the three farm laws, it would also be forced to

withdraw this proposed provision. They further pointed out that if consumers

feel digital payments are becoming increasingly expensive, they may return to

cash payments, potentially reversing the shift towards digital transactions.

Kishore Varshney, Harikesh Tripathi, Vijay Mishra, Anoop

Tripathi, Arshad Ali, Vinay Dubey, Afrooz Ahmed, Pratima Tripathi, Nayan

Kushwaha, Madhavi Rai, Mohd.Shariq, Kamaal Ali, Parvez Siddiqui, Rakesh

Srivastava and others were present.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi