New Delhi: India’s flagship digital payments platform, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), has recorded an extraordinary nearly 12,000-fold surge in transaction volume over the past decade, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.
Launched on April 11, 2016, by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) under the regulatory supervision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), UPI has evolved into the backbone of India’s digital payments ecosystem.
From a modest base of just 2 crore transactions in FY2016-17, the platform processed over 24,162 crore transactions in FY 2025-26, the mini stry said.
In value terms as well, UPI’s rise has been equally remarkable. Transaction value surged from Rs 0.07 lakh crore in its first year of operations to around Rs 314 lakh crore in FY 2025-26, marking an increase of more than 4,000 times.
This dual expansion in both volume and value highlights the platform’s increasing relevance not just for small retail payments but also for higher-value transactions.
According to government assessments, UPI’s scale, interoperability, and reliability have positioned India as a global leader in digital public infrastructure.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recognised UPI as the world’s largest real-time payment system by transaction volume, further reinforcing India’s standing in the global fintech landscape.
The year 2025 marked a turning point in UPI’s growth trajectory, as monthly transaction volumes crossed the 2,000 crore mark for the first time.
In August 2025, transactions reached 2,001 crore, and the momentum continued through the year, culminating in a record 2,163 crore transactions in December.
Overall, UPI processed about 22,000 crore transactions during calendar year 2025, averaging nearly 60 crore transactions per day — an indicator of its deep penetration and widespread trust among users.
Institutional participation has also expanded significantly. The number of banks live on the UPI network has grown from 44 in FY2016-17 to 703 by FY2025-26, spanning public and private sector banks, small finance banks, payment banks, and cooperative banks. This broad-based participation has enabled deeper geographic reach and strengthened the platform’s accessibility.
Data trends reveal a clear distinction in usage patterns. Person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions account for 63 per cent of total transaction volume, driven largely by high-frequency, low-value retail payments.
Notably, 86 per cent of these transactions are below Rs 500. On the other hand, person-to-person (P2P) transactions contribute 71 per cent of the total transaction value.
Even within P2P payments, while 59 per cent of transactions remain below Rs 500, a substantial 41 per cent exceed this threshold, the ministry added.
(IANS)
