Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions registered a marginal decline in September 2025, slipping to 19.63 billion from 20.01 billion in August, according to the latest data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Wednesday.
Despite the dip in transaction count, UPI value rose slightly to Rs 24.90 trillion in September from Rs 24.85 trillion in August. Average daily transactions also inched up to 654 million from 645 million in the previous month.
On a year-on-year basis, UPI transactions surged 31 per cent in volume and 21 per cent in value compared to September 2024, underscoring the rapid growth of digital payments in India.
UPI’s Long-term Growth Outlook
The Reserve Bank of India’s annual report noted that FY25 recorded 185.8 billion UPI transactions, up from 131.1 billion in FY24 worth Rs 199.89 trillion. In FY23, volumes stood at 83.76 billion aggregating Rs 139 trillion, while FY22 recorded 45.97 billion transactions worth Rs 84 trillion.
According to PwC India, UPI is projected to reach 1 billion transactions per day by FY27, accounting for nearly 90 per cent of India’s total retail digital payment volumes over the next five years. The surge is being driven by government initiatives, smartphone penetration, and rising consumer adoption of online payments.
FASTag payments, used for electronic toll collection, fell to 333 million transactions in September from 371 million in August, though they still reflected 5 per cent annual growth. The value of FASTag transactions also dropped to Rs 64.21 billion from Rs 66.61 billion, with daily transaction counts easing to 11.09 million from 11.97 million.
Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions continued to moderate, falling to 394 million in September from 477 million in August. In value terms, IMPS transactions slipped slightly to Rs 5.97 trillion from Rs 5.98 trillion. The channel, however, recorded 5 per cent year-on-year growth in volume.
AePS Transactions
Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) usage also slowed, logging 106 million transactions in September against 128 million in August. Despite this decline, AePS showed a 6 per cent year-on-year rise in volume and a 13 per cent increase in value, which stood at Rs 273.8 billion in September compared to Rs 323.2 billion in August.
AePS continues to play a crucial role in financial inclusion, particularly in rural areas, by enabling banking services through Aadhaar authentication. |
