Why in the News?
According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), digital payments registered a 12.6% year-on-year rise as of March 31, 2024, as measured by the RBI’s Digital Payments Index (DPI).
About RBI’s Digital Payments Index (DPI):
- Launched by: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in January 2021
- Purpose: Measures the extent of digital payment adoption across India
- Base Period: March 2018 (Index value = 100)
- Release Frequency: Semi-annually (with a 4-month lag)
- Objective: Track usage, infrastructure, and growth in digital payments
- Key Parameters (with Weightage): These evaluate infrastructure readiness, transaction volume, user adoption, and innovation.
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- Payment Enablers – 25%
- Payment Infrastructure – Demand Side – 10%
- Payment Infrastructure – Supply Side – 15%
- Payment Performance – 45%
- Consumer Centricity – 5%
Growth Highlight:
- Growth Trends in RBI-DPI: DPI grew nearly 5 times from 100 in March 2018 to 493.22 in March 2025, reflecting India’s rapid digital payment adoption.
- Nearly 5× increase from the base value in 7 years
- Driven by rapid expansion of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), mobile wallets, and QR code infrastructure
| [UPSC 2024] Consider the following countries:
I. United Arab Emirates II. France III. Germany IV. Singapore V. Bangladesh How many countries amongst the above are there other than India where international merchant payments are accepted under UPI?” Options: (a) Only two (b) Only three* (c) Only four (d) All the five Answer: (b) Only three (UAE, France, Singapore) |
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