'In talks with payment platforms to ensure UPI fee not passed on to consumers': Govt

NEW DELHI: Govt is in talks with payment aggregators and platforms, which onboard merchants, to ensure that the merchant discount rate (MDR) on transactions is not passed onto consumers, finance ministry officials told reporters Thursday.The Centre asserted that it does not expect a decline in UPI transactions or increased use of cash following its decision to charge a 0.4% merchant fee on transactions above Rs 2,000.On Tuesday, the finance ministry said that banks have been advised to ensure merchants do not pass MDR to customers.