Parliament passes Taxation bill which relates to UPI transactions
New Delhi, Aug 10: A bill containing amendments related to the UPI transactions got cleared by Parliament today, with the Rajya Sabha approving it four days after the passage by the Lok Sabha.
The Rajya Sabha approved by a voice vote the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, regarding which there have been concerns as it would entail levying of charges on UPI transactions.
Before the voting in the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the UPI-related amendment is only an enabling provision and does not itself impose any tax or transaction charge on users.
“The enabling provision that we are bringing in today does not impose any tax or transaction charge on UPI users,” Sitharaman said, adding that it enables the government to specify through notification the electronic payment modes that will continue to receive statutory protection against charges.
“No MDR framework has yet been finalised,” she said.
The Bill also carries a wider set of tax and investment-related changes, which include tax exemptions linked to specified data-centre services in India, incentives for global diamond-trading activity, measures supporting electronics manufacturing and relaxation of conditions for eligible investment funds.
On data centres, Sitharaman said the reforms would help expand the domestic ecosystem and stressed that “the investment, the assets, the employment, and also the profit will rest with Indian companies on account of data centre reforms.”
The Bill also provides tax exemptions for certain foreign institutional investors and the Bank for International Settlements on income from investments in government securities, while introducing other changes related to rough-diamond trading and business trusts.
The proposed legislation was considered as a Money Bill, because of which the Rajya Sabha could only make recommendations on its provisions and return it to the Lok Sabha, which may accept or reject those recommendations. (BVI)
