UPI to remain free for users; nominal MDR may apply to select merchant transactionsNEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said UPI payments will remain free for consumers and small traders – vegetable sellers, tea sellers, hawkers, etc. -- will not be covered under the proposed merchant discount rate (MDR) on digital transactions.Replying to the debate on Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill in Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman called Indian communists “cowards”.“Communists in this country are total cowards... they can’t face facts, but they will go on filibustering, making noise,” FM said after CPI(M) member John Brittas walked out of the House without listening to her reply. “John Brittas should stay here to hear the reply, because he’s been creating confusion all over, not just here, but in the country, because that’s the tactics the communists adopt.”Lashing out at CPI(M), Sitharaman said party members should not spread untruths after replies are given in Parliament. “I know that it’s their habit to do so, and that’s one reason why they’ve been electorally swept away across the nation. No state has a Communist govt,” she said.The bill, which was passed by Lok Sabha last week, was returned by Rajya Sabha with a voice vote after the discussion and finance minister’s reply. Sitharaman said small merchants remain central to govt’s commitment to financial inclusion and UPI’s growth.“The vast majority of merchant transactions -- including ordinary, low-value transactions -- will continue to remain free. Any future MDR will apply only to a limited category of merchant transactions above a prescribed threshold,” she said.Currently, banks and payment system providers cannot directly or indirectly charge users for payments made through UPI and RuPay debit cards.The legislation proposes to allow govt to decide, through notification, which electronic payment modes or transactions must remain free. It also seeks to attract more foreign capital, promote domestic electronics manufacturing and make it easier for foreign cloud companies to use Indian data centres by providing “process certainty”.Earlier, moving a resolution to disapprove the Income-Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, promulgated on June 5, Brittas alleged that govt had decided to charge fees on UPI payments due to pressure from the US. He said the legislation violated the assurance given by PM Narendra Modi at the G20 meeting in 2023 that UPI was a free public good.Rajya Sabha also passed Bankers’ Books Evidence Bill, 2026, after a brief discussion. Sitharaman said the new legislation will bring India’s century-old banking evidence law in line with the shift to digital banking, allowing electronic and digital bank records to be used as evidence in courts.The bill seeks to repeal and replace the Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891, under which legal proceedings relied on certified copies of physical bank records.Rajya Sabha could function for barely 30 minutes before lunch, with two adjournments taking place as Opposition MPs continued their protests.