THEBUSINESSBYTES
BUREAU
NEW
DELHI, OCTOBER 2, 2026
Transactions through
the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) rose 27 per cent in volume terms to about
145 billion in the first six months of the current financial year, underscoring
the continued rapid expansion of digital payments in the country.
According to data
released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI transactions
stood at around 114 billion during the April-September period of the previous
financial year. In value terms, however, the growth was comparatively moderate,
with transactions rising 20 per cent to ₹177 lakh crore during the first half of the current
fiscal from ₹148 lakh crore a year earlier.
The pace of UPI
transactions moderated in September, with the volume declining 1.7 per cent
month-on-month to 24.07 billion from 24.5 billion in August. The value of
transactions also slipped 1.5 per cent to ₹29.37 lakh crore from ₹29.82 lakh crore in the preceding
month.
Despite the monthly
moderation, the broader trend points to the growing centrality of UPI in
India's payments ecosystem. Launched on August 25, 2016, the platform has
significantly reshaped the country's digital payments landscape by enabling
instant bank-to-bank transfers through a single interoperable system.
The scale of the transformation is reflected in the sharp increase in transaction value over the past decade. UPI transaction value, which stood at ₹0.07 lakh crore in 2016-17, is estimated to have reached around ₹314 lakh crore in 2025-26, representing an increase of more than 4,000 times.
The sustained rise in transaction volumes, even as monthly activity can fluctuate, highlights the growing adoption of digital payments across consumers and businesses and UPI's expanding role as a key component of India's retail payments infrastructure.
