RBI governor discusses ways to scale up UPI ecosystem with stakeholders

The meeting was attended by banks, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), third-party application providers, and technology service providers

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday discussed strategies with stakeholders of the United Payments Interface (UPI) ecosystem on potential ways for further expansion.

Some other issues that were taken up were challenges encountered by the ecosystem and how these could be addressed. Innovative ideas were sought to integrate potential users into UPI, the regulator said in a statement.

“There were wide-ranging discussions on various aspects to widen and deepen the adoption and usage of UPI. The stakeholders shared their valuable inputs and suggestions,” the RBI said.

The meeting was attended by bank officials, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) executives, third party application providers and technology service providers.

Deputy Governor of RBI T Rabi Sankar and other senior officials of the apex bank also attended the meeting.

“The various suggestions received will be examined and suitable action will be initiated in due course by the RBI,” the press release said.

UPI transactions in India saw a record 56 per cent surge in volume and 43 per cent rise in value during financial year 2023-24 (FY24), compared to FY23.

It was for the first time that UPI transactions (by volume) crossed 100 billion and closed at 131 billion in a financial year, compared to 84 billion in 2022-23.

FY24 also saw a record value, touching Rs 199.9 trillion, compared to Rs 139.1 trillion during the same period of the previous financial year.

In April, however, UPI transactions saw a marginal dip in volume and value by 1 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively, compared to March.

In value terms, transactions were at Rs 19.64 trillion, compared to Rs 19.78 trillion in March. By volume, this was 13.3 billion in April, compared to 13.44 billion in March.