New Delhi, Mar 16 (JKNS): The Union Minister of Finance, India Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that digital payments in the country have witnessed exponential growth in recent years, with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) emerging as the world’s largest real-time retail payment system, accounting for 81 per cent of total retail digital transactions in FY 2024-25.
As per official data, provided by Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha as per news agency JKNS said that, total retail digital payment transactions have shown a steady rise over the past four financial years. In FY 2021-22, the volume stood at 7,176.90 crore transactions with a value of ₹457.44 lakh crore.
In FY 2022-23, transactions increased to 11,369.56 crore with a value of ₹587.39 lakh crore, registering a growth of 58.42 per cent in volume and 28.41 per cent in value.
Further growth was recorded in FY 2023-24, with transactions reaching 16,416.02 crore and value rising to ₹719.37 lakh crore, reflecting a 44.39 per cent increase in volume and 22.47 per cent in value.
In FY 2024-25, digital payments surged to 22,167.90 crore transactions with a total value of ₹849.12 lakh crore, marking a growth of 35.04 per cent in volume and 18.04 per cent in value.
The specific data on demographic or geographic segments-wise contribution in digital payments is not maintained. The growth in retail digital payments, including UPI, is driven by several factors such as smartphone penetration, Aadhaar‑enabled authentication, e‑KYC, wider financial inclusion and expansion of merchant acceptance infrastructure across both urban and rural areas.
The digital public infrastructure has supported inter-operability and simplified on-boarding processes, contributing to wider adoption across user groups. The initiatives such as the Incentive Scheme for Promotion of Digital Payments, Payment Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), etc. have also facilitated the continued expansion of digital payments.
The increase in digital payments has posed certain challenges such as cyber security risk, digital adoption, literacy and awareness, network issue, etc. However, no such specific challenges related to Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have been reported.
To address the digital financial frauds, various initiatives have been taken up by the Government, RBI and NPCI. These, inter alia, include device binding between the customer’s mobile number and device, two‑factor authentication through PIN, daily transaction limits and restrictions on certain use cases. NPCI provides an AI/ML‑based fraud‑monitoring solution to all banks for generating alerts and declining suspicious transactions. RBI and banks have also been conducting awareness campaigns through short SMS, radio campaigns and other publicity material for prevention of cyber‑crime.
Further, to facilitate citizens in reporting cyber incidents including financial frauds, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) and National Cybercrime Helpline Number “1930”.
Similarly, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has launched Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) and “Chakshu” facility, which enables citizens to report suspected fraudulent communication received through calls, SMS or WhatsApp.
To support the deployment of payment infrastructure in the rural and interior areas, PIDF was set up by RBI. Approximately 5.80 crore digital touch points and about 56.86 crore QR codes have been deployed under the scheme.
To facilitate users in low connectivity areas and for feature‑phone users, NPCI has launched UPI 123PAY (enabling payments through Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and sound-based proximity payments), and Hello UPI (enabling conversational payments).
Further, steps have been taken for greater financial awareness & literacy and safe usage of digital payments. A total of 2421 Centre for Financial Literacy (CFL) have been set up across the country as on 31 March 2025, with one CFL covering three blocks. Financial Literacy Week has been conducted annually since 2016 to disseminate financial education among citizens. (JKNS)
