As per a report by Business Today, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, hearing a plea challenging the Centre's UPI merchant discount rate along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, declined on September 28 to stay the charge, which applies to specified person-to-merchant UPI transactions over Rs 2,000 from October 15. The bench instead issued notices to the government, the Reserve Bank of India and the National Payments Corporation of India, seeking clarification on the legal basis for the levy.

The Additional Solicitor General told the court the charge was "not a tax or a fee" but "a settlement fee amongst the players, which NPCI facilitates," adding that the government does not take any share of it. Justice Bagchi questioned that framing, asking "if not a fee, then what is the character?" of a charge that could apply across 140 crore Indians. The Chief Justice directed the government to file a detailed affidavit setting out its position, describing the dispute as "more of a technical issue."