Fueled by festivals and the financial year’s end, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions in India soared to a record high in March, showcasing the platform’s dominance in the digital payments landscape.
IMAGE: Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com
Key Points
- UPI transactions in India hit a record high of Rs 29.53 lakh crore in value and 22.64 billion in volume in March, driven by festivals and the financial year end.
- The value of UPI transactions increased by 19% year-on-year, and volume increased by 24% compared to the previous year.
- UPI now accounts for 85% of all digital transactions in India and powers nearly 50% of global real-time digital payments.
- UPI is currently operational in seven countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, and Mauritius, marking its expansion into Europe.
Fuelled by festivities and financial year closure, the transaction through the popular Unified Payments Interface (UPI) touched a record high of Rs 29.53 lakh crore and 22.64 billion in value and volume terms, respectively, in March, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
NPCI said the value of transactions was at Rs 29.53 lakh crore in March against Rs 24.77 lakh crore in the same month a year ago, registering a 19 per cent growth on an annual basis.
The UPI transaction in value terms was Rs 26.84 lakh crore in February, registering a growth of 10 per cent on a month-on-month basis.
In volume terms, it created a record with 22.64 billion transactions during the month as compared to 18.3 billion, posting a growth of 24 per cent.
The UPI transaction in volume terms was 20.39 billion recorded in February.
The average daily transaction in March was 730 million with an average value of Rs 95,243 crore during the month which witnessed major festivals of Holi and Eid.
UPI’s Growing Influence
“The sustained growth in the digital payment ecosystem in India is an affirmation of the penetration of real-time payment systems in the day-to-day life of the people. UPI processed 22.64 billion transactions worth 29.53 lakh crore in March 2026, marking its emergence as one of the trusted payment systems in the country,” PayNearby MD & CEO Anand Kumar Bajaj said.
Today, UPI accounts for 85 per cent of all digital transactions in India. Its impact goes beyond national borders, powering nearly 50 per cent of global real-time digital payments.
UPI’s Global Expansion
UPI is already live in seven countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, and Mauritius. Its entry into France is a milestone because it is UPI’s first step in Europe. This allows Indians travelling or living there to pay seamlessly without the usual hassles of foreign transactions.
About NPCI
NPCI, an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association, is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India (IBA).
It runs the UPI used for real-time payments between peers or at merchants’ end while making purchases.
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