India's Digital Transactions Surge Over 10x In Seven Years, UPI Hits Exponential 114% CAGR

Digital payments have slowly become a part of our day-to-day activities as evident by the data shared by the Ministry of Finance on Monday. In response to a query raised in the Parliament the government said that digital transactions have surged over 10 times in the last seven years.

The total volume of digital payment transactions has increased to 22,831 crore in fiscal 2024-25 from 2,071 crore in financial year 2017-18. The press release on Monday added that digital payment transactions in this period have grown at a CAGR of 41%.

During the same period, the value of transactions has risen from Rs 1,962 lakh crore to Rs 3,509 lakh crore. The total monthly volume of digital payment has also increased from 1,739 crore in June 2024 to 2,099 crore in June 2025, with the value of transactions increasing to Rs 264 lakh crore in June 2025 from Rs 244 lakh crore in June last year.

While the digital payments grew over 10 times, UPI transactions have surged exponentially to 18,587 crore, with a CAGR of 114%. This compares to 92 crore in fiscal 2017-18. During the same period, the value of transactions has grown from Rs 1.10 lakh crore to Rs 261 lakh crore.

The latest data comes few days after new UPI rules took effect. According to the new changes, UPI apps must show the final status of failed or successful payments within seconds, ending long wait times and reducing transaction uncertainty. Additionally, the National Payments Corporation of India has set time frames to process auto-pay payments.

Last month, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra made it clear that while India remains committed to ensuring that digital payments are efficient, secure, and accessible, the sustainability of the infrastructure cannot be ignored.

However, he earlier this month issued a clarification. "I want to clarify that I never said that UPI can't remain free forever. There are costs and that these costs have to be paid by someone," Malhotra said answering a query at the post RBI policy conference.

"...it is important for us and for the sustainability whether collectively or individually someone pays for it. I never said that it cannot remain free forever. My sense is that it is still not free, till now someone else is paying for it," he said.

"The government is subsidising it and somewhere the costs are being paid. The question really is - who pays for it?," he asked.