Over 9,300 Cr UPI Transactions in 2023-24, Other Countries Join India's Digital Payment Boom: Finance Ministry

India made more than 9,300 crore UPI transactions in 2023-24 (till December 31 last year), said minister of state for finance Bhagwat Karad on Monday. Addressing key questions on the inclusion of residents from other countries in the unified payments interface user list, he also said a total of 386 such transactions were conducted in foreign countries in 2022.

The union minister, in response to questions related to UPI, said the Reserve Bank of India in a circular dated February 10, 2023, paved the way for foreign nationals and non-resident Indians to access UPI. This has enabled them to make UPI payments while they are in India. This facility had also been made available to travellers from G20 countries at select international airports – Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi, for merchant payments.

Karad’s response included the fact that NRIs with international mobile numbers linked to their non-resident external (NRE)/non-resident ordinary (NRO) accounts can now avail UPI. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has said this facility is presently allowed in Australia, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the US.

The minister presented comprehensive data on UPI transactions in the last four financial years:

• 2023-24 fiscal (data up to December 31, 2023): 9,338.38 (volume in crores), 1,43,47,778.98 (value in crores INR)
• 2022-23 fiscal: 8,371.44 volume in crores, 1,39,14,931.61 (value in crores INR)
• 2021-22 fiscal: 4,595.61 (volume in crores), 84,15,899.88 (value in crores INR)
• 2020-21 fiscal: 2,233.07 (volume in crores), 41,03,657.82 (value in crores INR)
• 2019-20 fiscal: 1,251.86 (volume in crores), 21,31,730.13 (value in crores INR)

It is important to note that “volume” is like counting how many times people used UPI, and “value” denotes how much money was involved during those transactions. So, for example, in 2019-20, people used UPI at least 1,251.86 crore times, and the total money involved was Rs 21,31,730.13 crore.

These developments, however, are a significant step towards global UPI accessibility and showcase the robust growth of UPI transactions in India and abroad.