Supreme Court to Hear Plea Challenging New UPI Fee Rules

The Supreme Court will hear a public interest litigation challenging the central government's decision to add a Merchant Discount Rate on specific UPI transactions above two thousand rupees. The petition, filed by lawyer Anjan Datta, challenges a notification from the government issued on September 14 and the new fee structure announced on September 15. The bench hearing this matter includes Chief Justice Surya Kant alongside Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana. Starting October 15, transfers to merchants via UPI worth more than two thousand rupees will attract a zero-point-four percent fee, ending nearly six years of completely free transactions on the platform. Regular person-to-person transfers, which account for thirty-seven percent of total volume and seventy percent of total value, will stay free. For payments of seventy-five thousand rupees and higher, the fee has a limit of three hundred rupees. Certain key sectors like railways, fuel, insurance, telecom, and farming supplies face a flat fee of five rupees for transactions above two thousand rupees. Investments in mutual funds, stocks, and related areas will carry a zero-point-zero-two percent fee, also capped at three hundred rupees. Meanwhile, RuPay debit card payments keep their zero-charge protection without any money limit. The court petition argues that the new rules came out without proper public talks, openness, or legal safeguards. It questions the rules saying they give the government too much unchecked power to pick which digital payment methods stay free. The plea asks the court to cancel the new fee setup or pause it, pointing out it could hurt small merchants and push people away from digital payments. It also names the central government and the Reserve Bank of India as respondents.