New Delhi: People of India have hit back at those who said that online payment is difficult and UPI payment is not possible in rural areas. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has seen a significant growth in digital payments, with transactions increasing from Rs 92 crore to Rs 8,375 crore in just 5 years, the government said.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the Union Finance Ministry said that the substantial expansion of UPI payments helped bring down the growth of bank notes in circulation to 7.8% in the last financial year.

Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad has given a written reply to the Lok Sabha regarding this. UPI transactions have seen substantial growth. 92 crores in the financial year 2017-18, the turnover has increased to 8,375 crores in the financial year 2022-23. This has increased the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to 147%.

Similarly, the value of UPI transactions in the financial year 2017-18 was Rs 1 lakh crore. 137 lakh crore in the financial year 2022-23 from Rs. This shows a CAGR increase of 168%.

UPI has achieved 8,572 crore transactions till December 11 in the current financial year. UPI has emerged as the primary driver for the overall expansion of digital payment transactions. 62% of such transactions are covered in FY 2022-23. Also the year-on-year growth in the value of bank notes in circulation has declined from 9.9% in FY 2021-22 to 7.8% in FY 2022-23.

Launched in 2016, UPI is an instant payment system created by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a regulated entity under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). UPI facilitates instant transfer of funds between any 2 bank accounts, leveraging the infrastructure of instant payment services.