Transactions done by RuPay, UPI, to not have MDR charges from January: Nirmala Sitharman

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on November 28 said that Department of Revenue (DoR) will mandate all businesses having a turnover of above Rs 50 crore to provide payment modes UPI QR code or RuPay debit card to ensure they do not charge a merchant discount rate (MDR) fee from January onwards.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will conduct workshops and detailed discussions with officials of public sector banks (PSBs) to help clarify the investigation agency's process.

“There was concern that genuine, bonafide decisions were not being made due to undue harassment from the three Cs,” said Sitharaman, referring to the CBI, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC).

Sitharaman also said that when a bank spots suspicious activity for amounts greater than Rs 3 crore, it has has an internal committee which decides whether it should forward the case to the CBI. Sitharman also said that in such cases, it is mandatory to inform the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

“No case goes to the CBI without the banks having decided to bring it forward,” said Sitharaman.

The Finance Minister also stated that notices sent to the banks by the CBI will have a Document Identification Number (DIN).

Finance Secretary Rajeev Kumar said that 13 PSBs have seen a profit, as compared to the 19 PSBs that were in profit last year.

In a press conference, Kumar also said that the provision coverage ratio of public sector banks (PSBs) is at an all-time high at 76.7 percent. Kumar also said that Rs 2.08 lakh crore has been recovered through the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) route.

“Out of the Rs 2.08 lakh crore secured in recoveries, Rs 38,000 crore are of PSBs alone,” stated Kumar.

Kumar also said that in the last three to four years. PSBs have attached assets worth Rs 2.3 lakh crore. All the properties attached by these banks have come onto a common property called ‘eBkraya’, which will carry out the auctions process online.

“This is a major step to bring transparency to the system,” he said.