So if I may get correctly now, helping someone to rank up is now a thing to crucify the sender now right?
Yes, that's the case here.
Allow me to throw in another theymos-quote (taken slightly out of context):
if they have decent posts, by all means, give them the 250 or 500 merit that they need to rank-up.
(click for full context)
I've received 2 untrusted negative tags for sending Merit over the years. You can't please everyone, and that's okay.