Department for Financial Services, Ministry of Finance has released Report titled “Socio-Economic Impact Analysis of Incentive Scheme for Promotion of RuPay Debit Card and low-value BHIM-UPI Transactions (P2M)”.

Key Highlights of the Report

• Dominance of UPI: UPI is the most preferred transaction mode (57%), surpassing cash (38%).
• Global Leadership: India accounts for approximately half of the world’s instant payment transactions (49%).
• Merchant Integration: UPI adoption among merchants stands at 94%, driven by faster transactions and improved record-keeping.
• Economic Impact: UPI contributed an estimated $16.2 billion to India's GDP in 2022 through cost savings and efficiency.
• International Expansion: UPI and RuPay are expanding internationally, with UPI live in eight countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, Qatar and Mauritius.

Recommendations

• Expand Merchant Acceptance: Extend support for QR and soundbox deployment in Tier 3–6 and subsidize POS terminals.
• Offline Capability: Scale UPI Lite and 123Pay to serve low-bandwidth zones effectively.
• Financial Inclusion and Sustainability: Integrate UPI with Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programs for government subsidies.
  • Launch digital literacy programs targeting female entrepreneurs in rural areas.
• Other: Deploy AI-driven anomaly detection and real-time alerts to prevent fraud; Enable scheduled payments for recurring bills in education, healthcare; etc.