Paradigm Shift in Digital Transactions in India with growth of more than 200%; 45 billion UPI Transactions registered in FY 21-22

The Incentive Program for Promotion of RuPay Debit Cards and Low Value BHIM-UPI Transactions for the Current Financial Year has been introduced by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to promote digital payments. This was mentioned in a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha today by Union Minister of State for Finance Dr. Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad.

The Minister stated that the Government of India, the RBI, the NPCI, and the Banks have all taken various measures to promote digital transactions and raise awareness of digital payments in the nation. Aadhar Payment Bridge, BHIM-UPI, UPI-123, AePS, and others are a few of the initiatives.

As a result of the various initiatives taken, the Minister stated, there has been a paradigm shift in digital transactions in India which is reflected in terms of the increase in the volume of digital transactions over the last four financial years as illustrated below:

According to the above table, which shows a growth of more than 200% from 2018–19, the volume of digital payments has increased significantly throughout that time. Also, according to data from National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), there were 45 billion UPI transactions registered in FY 21–22, an increase of 8 times over the previous three years and 50 times over the previous four, the Minister said.

The month-wise data for the UPI transactions registered during the last year i.e 2022 is as under:

The Minister provided more details, saying that the Scheme offers financial incentives to Banks for boosting point-of-sale (PoS) and e-commerce transactions using RuPay Debit Cards as well as person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions of low value (i.e. up to Rs. 2,000) via the BHIM-UPI platform. Also, the Program advertises UPI light and UPI 123 PAY as affordable and straightforward digital payment options. For the fiscal year 2022–2023, MeitY has allotted Rs. 2,600 crore for the Programme.

According to the Minister, the incentive programme has encouraged banks to develop a strong ecosystem for digital payments and to promote BHIM-UPI and RuPay Debit Cards as low-cost digital payment options for all industries and demographic groups.

The Minister added that banks are using the most recent digital technology to provide their clients improved and trouble-free banking services online. In addition, the government has made the development of digital payments one of its top priority in order to make it easier for citizens to conduct banking transactions without difficulty.