New Delhi : In October, India recorded an unprecedented surge in Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions, with 16.58 billion transactions totalling Rs 23.5 lakh crore, the highest figures since UPI’s launch in April 2016. Data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) highlighted a 10% rise in transaction volume and a 14% increase in value compared to September.
On a daily basis, UPI transactions surpassed 535 million in volume and reached Rs 75,801 crore in value, up from 501 million transactions and Rs 68,800 crore in September. Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions also rose, with 467 million transactions in October—an increase of 9% from the previous month—and a value increase of 11%, reaching Rs 6.29 lakh crore.
Other digital payment methods showed similar growth. FASTag transactions saw an 8% rise, reaching 345 million in October with a value of Rs 6,115 crore, compared to Rs 5,620 crore in September. The Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) reported 126 million transactions, a 26% increase from 100 million in September.
A recent study by economist Pradip Bhuyan of the Reserve Bank’s Department of Currency Management reports that digital payments are rapidly replacing cash transactions, which still make up 60% of consumer spending as of March 2024. The share of digital payments more than doubled from 14-19% in March 2021 to 40-48% by March 2024, with UPI playing a central role.
In the first half of 2024, UPI transaction volume rose by 52% to 78.97 billion transactions, up from 51.9 billion in the same period in 2023. Transaction values also grew by 40%, from Rs 83.16 lakh crore to Rs 116.63 lakh crore. This increase highlights the growing reliance on digital payments and the significant role UPIs play in transforming India’s financial landscape.(IANS)
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) was launched in India on April 11, 2016. It was developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) as a real-time payment system to facilitate inter-bank transactions through mobile devices, making digital transactions easy, fast, and accessible to a large population.
