President Murmu Approves Tax and Payment Laws: Government Gets Power to Levy MDR on UPI and RuPay
President Draupadi Murmu has approved amendments to the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2026, and the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
The President Draupadi Murmu has given her assent to the bills amending the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2026 and the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. Both bills have been approved by Parliament on 10th August.
The amendments to the Payment and Settlement Systems Act give the government a legal right to levy charges on UPI and RuPay card transactions. It will be within the discretion of the government to identify, via notification, the modes of electronic transactions and payments which will be exempt from the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR).
At present, the banks and the payment system operators are not allowed to charge the users for their payments via the use of UPI and RuPay debit cards. The UPI and Services Steering Committee chaired by the NPCI will decide on the MDR charge.
