UPI transactions through popular Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in volume terms have witnessed a 27% jump to around 145 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year.

This is against UPI volume 114 billion during April-September quarter of the previous financial year, as per data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

However, the UPI transaction during the value term rose a slightly lower rate of 20% to ₹177 lakh crore as against ₹148 lakh crore during the first six months of the current financial year. As regards September, the UPI volume moderated by 1.7% to 24.07 billion compared to 24.5 billion last month.

On a month-on-month basis, value, too, declined 1.5% to ₹29.37 lakh crore against ₹29.82 lakh crore in August. The figures come a fortnight ahead of the implementation of the new merchant discount rate fee on high-value UPI payments for merchants.

Industry watchers attributed the dip to the fact August has 31 days versus 30 in September and pointed out average transactions/day were higher in September at 802 million versus 791 million in August. NPCI, an initiative of the RBI and the Indian Banks’ Association, is an umbrella organisation for retail payments and settlement systems in India. It runs UPI used for real-time payments between peers or at merchants’ end while making purchases.

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), launched on 25 August, 2016, by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has completed 10 years of transforming digital payments in India.

UPI has emerged as the backbone of India’s digital payments ecosystem and a critical driver of financial inclusion, the Union Finance Ministry said.

Over the decade, UPI’s annual transaction volume expanded from 1.78 crore transactions in FY17 to over 24,162 crore transactions in FY26, representing a 13,000‑fold surge in transaction volume. 

Transaction value rose sharply from ₹0.07 lakh crore in FY17 to approximately ₹314 lakh crore in FY26, translating into a more than 4,000‑fold increase in transaction value, the ministry said.

UPI is currently operational in 11 countries. 

“UPI has emerged as one of the most successful pillars of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), providing an interoperable, real-time payments platform that enables seamless peer-to-peer and peer-to-merchant transactions through a single application,” it said.

“Today, it is the preferred mode of payment for millions of users, transforming the way India transacts. By bridging the digital divide, advancing financial inclusion, and expanding access to digital financial services, UPI has empowered individuals and communities across the country while driving broad-based economic participation,” it added.

“The unprecedented scale, reliability, and interoperability achieved by UPI have received global recognition, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) acknowledging it as the world’s largest real‑time payment system by transaction volume, underscoring India’s leadership in building scalable, inclusive, and innovative digital public infrastructure,” it further said.