UPI transactions kickstarted the new year 2022 on a strong note with the highest ever monthly value recorded at Rs 8.32 lakh crore in January. This is significantly higher than the monthly average of Rs 6.3 lakh crore in the trailing 12-month period, the data from country’s flagship payments processor NPCI showed. Higher transaction figures reflect faster adoption of digital mode of payments in the country, further solidifying the government’s push to make the economy paperless.
UPI payments have gained much faster adoption in the country after April 2020, owing to the pandemic-induced shift to contactless payments, according to the data published in the Ministry of Finance’s Economic Survey. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is currently the single largest retail payment system in the country, it added.
The National Payments Corporation of India also reported record yearly transactions worth Rs 75.6 lakh crore through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for the trailing 12-month period from February 2021 to January 2022. In terms of volumes, a total of 4,106 crore transactions were made in the same 12-month period. Out of this, an aggregate of 462 crore transactions were done in January.
According to the Reserve Bank of India’s Digital Payments Index (RBI), which was constructed last year to capture the extent of digitization of payments across the country, the DPI rose from 100 in March 2018 (base period) to 304.06 in September 2021.
In the Budget 2022 announced this week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman further cemented the idea of a digital economy, by proposing the launch of a digital rupee this year. If RBI is expected to follow in the footsteps of global peers like the US and China. Although China is ahead of many large economies and is piloting digital yuan trials in many cities. Following the finance minister’s announcement, PM Modi said Wednesday digital rupee will revolutionise the fintech sector, adding that it would be exchangeable through cash.
From brick and mortar stores to a high-end shop in a mall, UPI transactions have been widely adopted in the country. More than 50% of the transactions done through UPI are under Rs 200. UPI is a system that allows users to enable multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application, making day-to-day payments easier. From the government’s BHIM app to private players like Paytm and Bharatpe, a basket of apps are available for an average Indian to make UPI transactions.
Financial Express is now on Telegram. 
