Sitharaman accused the opposition leader of "spreading a canard" and clarified that MDR "applies only on the merchants and not on the end users/customers," adding that the revenue would let banks and fintechs invest in infrastructure, innovation and security, benefits she said would eventually flow to all UPI users.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that merchant discount rate (MDR) is applied only on merchants and not on end users. However, she clarified that no decision…

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated Merchant Discount Rate applies to merchants, not customers. This charge will support banks and fintech companies in infrastructure…