Year-on-Year Growth and Expansion of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) Transactions in India

Author

Chandrakant Hiremath, Ravi Rajakumar Baligeri


Abstract

 The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has emerged as a major component of India's digital payment ecosystem since its introduction in 2016. The present study examines the development of UPI in India using exclusively secondary data. The study focuses on three dimensions: year-on-year growth in UPI transaction volume, year-on-year growth in transaction value, and expansion of participating banks in the UPI ecosystem. Data are collected from official sources, primarily the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Government of India publications. The study covers the period from FY 2016–17 to FY 2025–26. The analysis indicates a substantial increase in both transaction volume and transaction value over the study period. Although the annual percentage growth rate has moderated in recent years, the absolute volume and value of UPI transactions continue to increase significantly. At the same time, the number of participating banks has expanded considerably, strengthening the interoperability and reach of the UPI ecosystem. The study concludes that UPI has progressed from an emerging digital payment mechanism to a large-scale payment infrastructure in India.


Keywords

UPI, Unified Payments Interface, Digital Payments, Transaction Volume, Transaction Value, Year-on-Year Growth, Participating Banks, NPCI



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References


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