UPI processed 25.47 billion transactions worth Rs 31.53 lakh crore in October, as festive spending helped lift average daily payment value above Rs 1 lakh crore.
India’s Unified Payments Interface continued its rapid expansion in October, with the National Payments Corporation of India saying transaction volume rose 23 per cent from a year earlier to 25.47 billion, while the total value of payments climbed 16 per cent to Rs 31.53 lakh crore. The figures point to another strong month for the country’s dominant digital payments rail, helped by seasonal spending around the festive period.
The numbers also show how deeply embedded UPI has become in everyday commerce. NPCI said average daily activity reached about 822 million transactions in October, with the value of those payments averaging roughly Rs 1,01,707 crore a day. That was enough to push the monthly average above Rs 1 lakh crore for the first time, according to Moneycontrol.
October’s tally marked an increase from September, when UPI recorded 24.07 billion transactions worth Rs 29.37 lakh crore, according to NPCI data cited by several Indian financial news outlets. IMPS, the instant bank transfer system, also posted solid growth, with October transfers totalling Rs 7.63 lakh crore, up 19 per cent from a year earlier, and average daily counts at 12.10 million.
The strong usage figures came as NPCI delayed the rollout of a proposed merchant discount rate, or MDR, on selected UPI payments until after Diwali. Under the plan, certain merchant transactions above Rs 2,000 would have faced a 0.4 per cent fee, capped at Rs 300, while specified categories such as railways, telecoms, insurance and fuel would have attracted a flat Rs 5 charge. The fee is meant for merchants rather than customers, and the Indian Express reported that only about 4 per cent of merchant payments are expected to fall within the new framework, leaving the vast majority exempt.
NPCI has said the revised implementation date will be announced separately, and it has argued that the proposed structure would have only a limited effect on the wider UPI ecosystem. For now, the October data underline that digital payments in India continue to expand at pace, with festive demand adding to an already entrenched shift away from cash.
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