UPI records 1.32B transactions in February, highest-ever since launch
The number is slightly higher from that of January figures when the transactions were recorded at 1.31 billion or 131 crore.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Monday showed that UPI transactions in India in February has recorded the highest-ever volume figures, witnessing close to 1.32 billion or 132 crore transactions.
According to the data released by the retail payments organisation, the number is slightly higher from that of January figures, when the transactions were recorded at 1.31 billion or 131 crore. Further, in December last year and January this year, there were negligible changes in the total number of UPI transactions.
The total value transacted through the UPI network grew to Rs 2.22 lakh crore in February - the highest-ever to date since its launch in 2016 - up 2.6 percent increase since January, when the total value transacted through the UPI network stood at Rs 2.16 lakh crore. In December last year, a total of Rs 2.02 lakh crore in payment value was reported.
According to market analysts, the slowdown in the growth of UPI transactions can be attributed to the talks around the revision of MDR to zero for the UPI network, leaving players not much incentive to push for payment volumes.
Last month, in a circular to payment players, NPCI revised interchange fee and PSP fee to zero for debit card payments through RuPay and for UPI payments in the country.
This decision by the retail payments organisation is in line with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s decision of charging zero MDR charges on transactions through homegrown digital payment platforms UPI and RuPay card network.
Apart from UPI, payment networks like IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) and AePS (Aadhaar-Enabled Payment System) also saw a decline in payment volumes.
Total IMPS transactions in the country stood at 247.8 million (or 24.78 crore) in February, down by 4.5 percent since January when total IMPS transactions stood at 259.53 million (or 25.95 crore). Even total value transacted on the network declined to Rs 2.14 lakh crore in February from Rs 2.16 lakh crore in January.
Further, the total AePS transactions in the country dropped to 216 million in February from 225.5 million in January. Finally, transactions relating to NETC Fastag crossed the 100 million mark reaching 110.1 million in February.
(Edited by Suman Singh)
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