Transactions through the unified payments interface (UPI) touched a record-high of ₹12.11 lakh in October, thus registering an 8.52% month-on-month (MoM) growth as compared to ₹11.16 lakh crore in September this year, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation in India. This is the highest since its inception in 2016.

In terms of volume, UPI transactions were at an all-time high of 731 crore, thus registering a growth of 7.6% as compared to 678 crore transactions in September. On a year-on-year basis, UPI transaction volume registered a growth of 73% as compared to 421.8 crore in October last year, whereas the UPI transactions value registered a growth of 57% as compared to ₹7.71 lakh crore in the same period last year.

UPI was launched as part of the Digital India campaign. Within three years of its launch, it exceeded one billion transactions in 2019. Since 2020, UPI transactions have gained momentum owing to the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. A report by the Worldline’s India Digital Payment said that as many as 20.57 billion transactions worth ₹36.08 lakh crore were recorded between July and September this year.

Ever since UPI's inception, the Indian government has been bullish on this payment mode. Owing to its popularity, a Reserve Bank of India paper proposed a framework to charge UPI payments. However, the government later clarified that no charges will be imposed on UPI payments.

"UPI is a digital public good with immense convenience for the public & productivity gains for the economy. There is no consideration in Govt to levy any charges for UPI services. The concerns of the service providers for cost recovery have to be met through other means," the Ministry of Finance had said.

Meanwhile, the government is working across various mechanisms in order to expand the scope of UPI payments beyond India. Last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that India is talking to different countries to make RuPay, UPI and BHIM apps acceptable in other countries.

UPI transactions in October

UPI clocks ₹12.11 lakh cr worth transactions in Oct