The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been recognized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the world’s largest retail fast-payment (real-time) system by transaction volume, according to the IMF report “Growing Retail Digital Payments (The Value of Interoperability)” released in June 2025. Additionally, as per the ACI Worldwide report “Prime Time for Real-Time” 2024, UPI accounts for around 49% of global real-time payment transactions, underscoring India’s leadership in digital payments.
In terms of global comparison, India recorded 129.3 billion transactions, far ahead of other countries such as Brazil (14%), Thailand (8%), China (6%), and South Korea (3%), out of a total 266.2 billion global real-time transactions.
To accelerate adoption, especially among small and micro merchants, the Government of India, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have implemented targeted initiatives. These include incentives for low-value BHIM-UPI transactions and the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), which supports deployment of POS terminals and QR codes in tier-3 to tier-6 areas. As of 31 October 2025, about 5.45 crore digital touchpoints were deployed through PIDF, and 56.86 crore QR codes were issued to nearly 6.5 crore merchants by FY 2024–25.
UPI and RuPay are also being expanded across public services, transport, and e-commerce, further deepening digital transactions nationwide. This information was shared by Minister of State for Finance, Shri Pankaj Chaudhary, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on 8 Dec 2025.
