Story perspectives

Supreme Court Rejects Stay on UPI MDR Framework

By Drooid · Sep 28, 2026, 10:09 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

The Supreme Court of India refused to stay the Centre’s order on the new UPI merchant discount rate framework.
Advocate Anjan Datta filed a public interest litigation challenging the 0.4% MDR on merchant payments above Rs 2,000.
The PIL sought to quash the September 14-15 notifications imposing charges on commercial UPI payments exceeding Rs 2,000.
Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi ordered the Centre to submit an affidavit.

History

Historical Context

After NPCI was created in 2009 and RBI’s 2012 vision pushed a cash-less agenda, the Unified Payments Interface launched on 11 April 2016, recording 1.5 million transactions on day one and surpassing Modi’s one-million Digital India goal. The 2026 legislation fixing a 0.4 % merchant discount rate now faces a Supreme Court challenge led by Justices Surya Kant, Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi.

1 of 2

Story summary

The Supreme Court of India refused to stay the Centre’s order on the new UPI merchant discount rate framework.
Advocate Anjan Datta filed a public interest litigation challenging the 0.4% MDR on merchant payments above Rs 2,000.
The PIL sought to quash the September 14-15 notifications imposing charges on commercial UPI payments exceeding Rs 2,000.
Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi ordered the Centre to submit an affidavit.

1 / 2