Bhutan first country to adopt UPI; FM hails platform's role during lockdown

Sitharaman says platform facilitated 22 billion transactions worth Rs 41 trillion in 2020-21

The BHIM-UPI platform has stood out as an effective payment instrument during the lockdown, facilitating 22 billion transactions in 2020-21, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the launch of the home-grown platform in Bhutan.

Transactions totaling Rs 41 trillion were undertaken seamlessly during the Covid-19 lockdown on BHIM-UPI, Sitharaman added.

“Particularly the pandemic year has been the strong point for BHIM-UPI,” Sitharaman said. In the five years since its launch in India, more than 100 million QR codes have been deployed, she added.

UPI-based transactions hit an all time high of 2.81 billion transactions in June amounting to Rs 5.47 trillion, over 11