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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has advised leaders in Ladakh to secure written assurances from the central government regarding their demands for statehood. Speaking to the media in Amritsar on September 17, Abdullah cited the ongoing delay in the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir as a reason for caution, noting that previous verbal commitments from the Centre have yet to be fulfilled.
Abdullah stated that the government had previously outlined a three-step process for Jammu and Kashmir: the completion of delimitation, the holding of elections, and the final restoration of statehood. While the delimitation process was completed and elections were held with high voter participation, the restoration of statehood remains pending. Abdullah emphasized that these assurances were provided verbally in both Parliament and the Supreme Court, but were never formalized in writing.
In addition to his comments on statehood, Abdullah addressed concerns regarding the revised Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) framework for UPI transactions, which is set to take effect on October 15, 2026. Under the new framework announced by the National Payments Corporation of India, a 0.4 per cent MDR will apply to specific Person-to-Merchant (P2M) UPI transactions exceeding Rs 2,000, with a cap of Rs 300 per transaction.
Abdullah clarified that these charges would not be levied on individual customers, nor would they apply to peer-to-peer money transfers. He stated that the costs would be borne by the businesses facilitating the transactions and noted that the official order prohibits merchants from passing these costs on to customers. He added that transactions under Rs 2,000, which account for the majority of business activity, remain exempt from these charges.
The central government has maintained that the MDR is not a tax, but rather a fee distributed among participants in the digital payments ecosystem, including banks and payment application providers.
Article source: www.pakistantelegraph.com | Image credit: www.pakistantelegraph.com
