New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) accounted for around 81 per cent of total retail digital payment transactions in FY25 and has emerged as the largest real-time retail payment system in the world.

In a written reply to separate questions in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said the total volume of retail digital payment transactions increased from 7,176.9 crore in FY22 to 22,167.9 crore in FY25.

Retail digital payment transactions in India have witnessed exponential growth in recent years due to coordinated efforts by the government, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

“In value terms, digital payment transactions rose from Rs 457.44 lakh crore in FY22 to Rs 849.12 lakh crore in FY25,” she said.

According to the minister, the growth trajectory suggests that the volume of digital payments rose by 58.42 per cent in FY23, followed by 44.39 per cent in FY24 and 35.04 per cent in FY25.

In terms of value, transactions grew by 28.41 per cent in FY23, 22.47 per cent in FY24 and 18.04 per cent in FY25.

“The growth in retail digital payments, including UPI, is driven by several factors such as smartphone penetration, Aadhaar-enabled authentication, e-KYC, wider financial inclusion and expansion of merchant acceptance infrastructure across both urban and rural areas,” Sitharaman said.

Meanwhile, she also expressed concern that the rise in digital payments has brought certain challenges, including cybersecurity risks, digital adoption gaps, literacy and awareness issues, and network-related constraints.

To tackle digital financial frauds, several safeguards have been introduced by the government, RBI and NPCI.

In addition, awareness campaigns are regularly conducted by the RBI and banks through SMS alerts, radio campaigns and other outreach initiatives to prevent cyber fraud, she said

–IANS

ag/na