Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Aug 24: The annual transaction volume of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has surged nearly 13,000-fold over the past decade, rising from 1.78 crore transactions in FY 2016-17 to more than 24,162 crore in FY 2025-26, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday.
UPI, launched on August 25, 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) under the regulatory oversight of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has emerged as the backbone of India’s digital payments ecosystem and a key driver of financial inclusion.
According to the ministry, the value of UPI transactions has also expanded sharply, increasing from Rs 0.07 lakh crore in FY 2016-17 to approximately Rs 314 lakh crore in FY 2025-26 — a more than 4,000-fold rise over the decade.
The platform has become a key pillar of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure, providing an interoperable and real-time payments system for seamless person-to-person and person-to-merchant transactions.
The ministry said UPI’s scale, reliability and interoperability have earned global recognition, with the International Monetary Fund acknowledging it as the world’s largest real-time payment system by transaction volume.
As of 2025, UPI accounted for nearly 49 per cent of global real-time payment transaction volume.
The growth momentum has accelerated further in 2026. Monthly UPI transaction volume crossed the 2,300-crore mark for the first time in May, when 2,320 crore transactions were recorded.
The platform subsequently touched a record 2,366 crore transactions in July, the highest monthly volume in its decade-long journey.
Institutional participation has also expanded significantly. The number of banks live on UPI increased from 44 in FY 2016-17 to 703 by FY 2025-26, covering public sector banks, private banks, small finance banks, payment banks and cooperative banks.
The ministry said UPI has witnessed particularly strong adoption for merchant payments. Person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions accounted for 63 per cent of total transaction volume, while person-to-person (P2P) transactions contributed 71 per cent of the overall transaction value.
The data also highlights the widespread use of UPI for small-value everyday payments. Around 86 per cent of P2M transactions in FY 2025-26 were below Rs 500, while 59 per cent of P2P transactions were also below Rs 500.