A day after the Centre introduced a 0.4 per cent fee on UPI transactions above Rs 2,000, traders’ associations said they would now push for cash payments, while the Opposition demanded an immediate rollback. The government, however, made it clear there was “no question of reversing the decision”.Meanwhile, a PIL in the Supreme Court challenged the decision, alleging the levy was introduced without adequate statutory safeguards, transparency or public consultation. The PIL has made the Centre, the RBI, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the UPI & Services Steering Committee respondents in the case.The government on Tuesday introduced the charge as part of a framework for large digital merchant payments, ending the zero-Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) regime that has been in place since January 2020. The charge has been capped at Rs 300 for payments of Rs 75,000 and above.New Delhi’s Kamla Nagar Market Association president Nitin Gupta said traders had supported the government’s push for digital payments, but would now encourage cash transactions if they were required to bear an additional charge.”We were already paying transaction charges and 18 per cent GST. Now if the government charges us on UPI MDR, then we will promote cash. Why should we pay transaction charges?” he asked.New Delhi Traders Association general secretary Amit Gupta said the additional charge would make UPI payments a costly option for traders who were already operating on tight margins. Khan Market Association president Sanjiv Mehra said traders were already opposing MDR on credit card transactions and would now have to deal with a charge on UPI payments as well. He said traders would also consider using cheques and other banking channels for larger payments to wholesalers and other businesses.Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to please US President Donald Trump by imposing the charge. The Congress alleged that the PM “redefined NOTA — Narendra’s Ongoing Trump Appeasement”. Rahul urged the PM to “stop lying down in front of the US, have a spine, stand up” and roll back the “UPI tax”.Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja demanded that the government withdraw the “anti-people decision”. “Charges on UPI usage, a publicly developed payment technology, are deeply unfortunate and have been brought under US pressure,” Raja claimed in a post on X.The Finance Ministry clarified that there was no foreign influence behind the decision. “Some claims suggest the change is due to foreign influence. This is false. India’s UPI policy decisions are made independently, with the clear goal of building a self-sustaining, inclusive, and affordable digital payments ecosystem,” the ministry said in a post on X.