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Business: Due to Diwali and festive occasions, a record transaction of Rs 1.02 lakh crore took place through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on October 18. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, a total of 75.4 crore transactions were done on this day. Also, after the cut in GST rates, there has been a sharp surge in consumer demand during festivals.
Average UPI transactions in the three days between Dhanteras and Diwali increased to Rs 73.69 crore. This is more than Rs 64.74 crore in the same period last month. The Finance Minister said, this time it has been a cracker Diwali for the retail business, because the reduction in GST rates has increased the purchasing power of middle class consumers. The implementation of GST 2.0 has given a new impetus to the country’s economy. There was ease in business. Reduction in rates benefited families from real savings and increased demand in the market.
The payments ecosystem in the country has grown significantly in recent years. The share of digital payments in total transactions is expected to reach 99.8 percent in the first six months of 2025. Digital payments in India have grown 6.6 times in number and 1.6 times in value in five years. In numerical terms this is a five-year compound increase of 46 per cent.
Digital payments account for 99.7 percent of transactions: RBI
Digital payment transactions in the payment system in the country reached 99.7 percent in terms of volume and 97.5 percent in terms of value during the calendar year 2024. This increase continued in the first half of 2025 also. During this period, digital payments accounted for 99.8 percent of total transactions in terms of number and 97.7 percent in terms of amount.
According to the RBI report released on Thursday, all types of payment systems in the country have grown rapidly in recent years. Except paper based means. By value, checks constitute only 2.3 per cent of total transactions.
12,549 crore transactions in the first half
Total payments were Rs 3,248 crore in 2019, which will increase to Rs 20,849 crore by 2024. The total payment amount increased from Rs 1,775 lakh crore to Rs 2,830 lakh crore. At the same time, in the half year ending June 2025, there were 12,549 crore transactions worth Rs 1,572 lakh crore.
