India drives 85% of transactions through UPI; DPPs boost financial inclusion: RBI Governor

India leads in digital public platforms, with UPI processing 85% of digital payments, facilitating financial inclusion and innovation. Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra highlighted these cost-efficient, resilient systems, built as a public good. He emphasized global collaboration, sharing India's MOSIP platform for national digital ID systems with 27 countries. India processes around 85 per cent of its digital payments via the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), making the country a leading example of inclusive, secure, and scalable Digital Public Platforms (DPPs), Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra said. Speaking at the “High-Level Dialogue on Forging Economic Resilience through Digital Public Platforms” organised by the RBI on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, Malhotra highlighted India’s success in building cost-efficient, resilient public service systems at scale. “For us, the guiding principle has been to build such platforms in the public sector as a public good with suitable guardrails, and without a profit motive,” he said, PTI quoted. He noted that foundational platforms for digital identity (Aadhaar) and real-time payments (UPI) have catalysed innovation and financial inclusion, particularly in government transfer payments. Public and private entities can leverage these platforms to rapidly develop applications across credit, health, social protection, agriculture, and other sectors. “Around 85 per cent of the digital payment transactions in India today are carried out through UPI. About 20 billion transactions are made using UPI every month, representing value equivalent to over $280 billion,” Malhotra said. He added that UPI has empowered small vendors and micro enterprises to accept digital payments, build financial histories, and access formal credit at lower costs. Malhotra also emphasised India’s commitment to global collaboration on DPPs in the spirit of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ — the world is one family — a theme central to India’s G20 presidency. “We believe that the benefits of DPPs should be available to the whole world. We are fully committed to international collaboration around such platforms,” he said. The RBI Governor highlighted India’s Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP), which allows other countries to develop their own national digital ID systems. Currently, 27 countries are either adopting or considering MOSIP-based systems to deliver essential services quickly, directly, and seamlessly to citizens. End of Article