Ticket bookings at ASI sites could go digital with BHIM UPI soon

NPCI-BHIM is in talks with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to enable BHIM UPI payments at all cultural heritage sites for booking tickets at the counter, a top official said on Wednesday.

While currently the facility is available for online bookings on ASI portal, in order to further promote BHIM-UPI for such bookings, incentives in form of cashbacks are also being mulled, the official said adding that an announcement on this is expected shortly.

Thereafter, the facility for payment through BHIM UPI QR code would be provided at the booking counters at the heritage sites, so visitors can make payments smoothly.At present, physical counters only accept cash payments and do not offer digital payment options.

 

"We are trying to see how we can incentivise customers for buying tickets at Archaeological Survey of India sites. We are working with many of these entities including metros, to see how customers can be benefited from the transactions that they do with such merchants, NBSL MD&CEO Lalitha Nataraj told PTI.

Further, NPCI BHIM Services Ltd (NBSL), a subsidiary of NPCI, is in talks with a few public sector banks for collaboration to enable faster UPI payments through banks' application.

Recently, NBSL has partnered with Canara Bank to enable UPI-based digital payments of the bank's mobile app.

"We are in talks with 3-4 more public sector banks for such collaboration and an announcement is likely by the first quarter of next fiscal," Nataraj said.

In 2025, BHIM payments app's monthly transactions increased from 38.97 million in January to 165.1 million in December, registering a 4-fold increase. Tansaction value reached Rs 20,854 crore in December 2025, a 120 per cent increase year-on-year.

In 2025, Delhi ranked among the leading markets for BHIM Payments app. Peer-to-peer accounted for 28 per cent of transactions in Delhi during the year, followed by groceries at 18 per cent, fast food restaurants at 7 per cent, restaurants at 6 per cent, telecommunication services at 4 per cent and online market places at 2 per cent.

"The growth we are witnessing across key markets such as Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, reflects growing trust in BHIM Payments app's performance, security and user experience," Nataraj said.