After seeing a slump in the month of April, digital payments saw an uptick in May, with the third and fourth phases of lockdown sparking some revival in economic activity post the stringent curbs in the first and second phases implemented in April.

Data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) showed transaction count on platforms such as United Payment Interface (UPI), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), National Electronic Toll Collection (NETCC) and Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) posted significant growth in May. The transaction value also followed a similar trend.

In the case of UPI, transaction value at Rs 2.18 trillion was even more than in the month of March at Rs 2.06 trillion and the transaction count came in a little short at 1.23 billion in May as opposed to 1.25 billion in March. The month of April had seen transaction count on UPI plummet to 0.99 billion and transaction value to 1.51 trillion. Thus May saw a jump of 45 per cent in transaction value and 24 per cent growth in transaction count.

As far as IMPS is concerned, transaction count in May jumped 36 per cent to 166.8 million from 122.47 million in April while the transaction value grew 39 per cent to Rs 1.69 trillion compared to Rs 1.22 trillion in April. In the month of March, the transaction count was 216.82 million, and transaction value at 216.82 million. The transaction limit under IMPS is capped at Rs 2 lakh per transaction and the same goes for UPI.

BBPS, an online bill payment system, also saw a revival with transaction count growing almost 30 per cent to 16.54 million in May from 12.77 million in April. The transaction value grew close to 60 per cent to Rs 2,178.72 crore in May compared to Rs 1,371.17 crore in April. Notably, the transaction count and value in May for BBPS is more than the numbers clocked in March, which saw a clampdown in economic activities for at most 10 days.

As vehicular activity returned in May, toll collection saw a huge uptick. Fastag posted an impressive jump of more than 400 per cent in transaction count at 55.17 million and more than 300 per cent jump in transaction value at Rs 1,142 crore in May.