Mumbai, Sep 19 (IANS) In a sharp political offensive against the Central government’s decision to introduce a 0.4 per cent Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on select Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions above Rs 2,000, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday alleged that the administration has ensnared the nation in a carefully laid “digital trap”.
In a detailed statement on social media platform X, the MNS Chief accused the ruling MahaYuti coalition-led Maharashtra government of lulling Indian citizens into a false sense of security with free digital transactions, only to quietly impose transaction fees and taxes once people became dependent on the platform.
Tracing the trajectory of digital payments from the 2016 Demonetisation move to the nationwide push for UPI adoption, Raj Thackeray said that the trajectory was planned to make citizens reliant on digital architecture before levying charges.
“First came Demonetisation; then the UPI system was introduced with great fanfare to showcase the push for digital transactions. They trumpeted its success, basked in self-praise, got people habituated to it, and then suddenly announced that fees would apply. In short, they lulled citizens into a false sense of security and quietly ensnared them in a digital trap,” he remarked.
He said that he had consistently warned the public against assuming that zero-fee digital services would remain permanent, saying that the government’s process of “coming knocking at your door” to collect revenues has now officially begun.
He questioned why permanent budgetary provisions for long-term maintenance and cybersecurity were not established during the initial investment phase if the intent was genuinely to simplify transactions rather than monetise them later.
Rejecting the Union government’s claim that the 0.4 per cent MDR burden falls solely on merchants, Raj Thackeray asserted that the Union government possesses zero monitoring mechanisms to prevent small and large businesses from passing the extra operational cost onto consumers.
He sharply criticised the levy of 18 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on top of the MDR, accusing the Finance Ministry of attempting to “dip into citizens’ pockets wherever possible”.
Raising questions around international policy influences, Raj Thackeray cited Opposition’s allegations regarding US pressure and asked whether foreign card corporations and global payment networks influenced the policy decision.
Releasing a official government tweet screenshot from August 21, 2022 — which explicitly promised that UPI services would remain completely free — the MNS Chief called the recent policy shift evidence of “unclear and non-transparent intentions”.
He formally registered his party’s protest against the implementation of the Merchant Discount Rate.
Calling upon the trading community, small business owners, and retail associations to take a unified stand, Raj Thackeray urged merchants across Maharashtra and the nation to vehemently oppose paying the new transaction levies.
–IANS
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