An evaluation reveals that whereas UPI transaction progress charge has slowed to 18.7% progress as of August, it’s nonetheless larger than the 13% progress in money with the general public in the identical interval.
New Delhi: Whereas the parliament has handed the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, within the recently-concluded monsoon session that can permit a Service provider Low cost Price (MDR) cost to be levied on Unified Funds Interface (UPI) transactions, knowledge reveals that these transactions have been slowing within the final 5 years, with money stream growing in the identical interval.
Knowledge from the Reserve Financial institution of India (RBI) reveals the expansion charge of money with the general public reached a excessive of about 17% in 2020-21 throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Whereas this determine diminished to about 4% until 2023-2024, it has since recorded an uptick, The Hindu has reported.
The Hindu’s evaluation utilizing the RBI knowledge reveals that the speed of progress of money with the general public rose to six.5% in 2024-25 and additional to 12% in 2025-26. The report additionally discovered that in 2026-27, money with the general public, as of July 31, 2026, is at Rs 41.8 lakh crore, which is almost 13% larger than in the identical interval earlier yr.
Compared, UPI transactions have declined, in accordance with knowledge from the Nationwide Funds Company of India (NPCI). UPI transactions slowed all the way down to about 95% in 2020-21 versus its progress of 133% in 2019-20. Following the Covid-19 pandemic the speed rose once more to 105%, however since then worth of transactions executed on UPI platforms has persistently been slowing, with progress hitting 20.3% in 2025-26.
The information stated, in 2026-27, the expansion charge of UPI transactions additional slowed to 18.7%, as of August 2026, as in comparison with the April-August interval of final yr.
The report added that this 18.7% progress in UPI transactions continues to be larger than the 13% progress in money with the general public in the identical interval.
Pronab Sen, former Chief Statistician of India and former Chairman of the Standing Committee on Statistics, instructed the day by day that the rising charges of each money and UPI transactions ought to current themselves in larger inflation charges.
“This might indicate that we’re undercounting inflation, as a result of that’s the place this could present up,” he was quoted as saying.
In parliament, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said, “Service provider low cost charge applies solely on the retailers and never on the tip customers/clients.” Opposition members have, nevertheless, raised issues that this cost will ultimately be handed on to clients.
Earlier this month, RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra said it’s “untimely” to debate MDR on digital funds proper now. Nevertheless, he additionally famous that funding in public infrastructure like funds is critical and somebody has to pay for it.
This text went dwell on August sixteenth, two thousand twenty six, at twenty-nine minutes previous one within the afternoon.
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