New Delhi: Ever since people have got the option of UPI for payment, the shine of cash has diminished somewhat. That means people no longer like to keep a lot of cash in their pockets, because almost all payments are made through mobile. From small to big, almost all merchants provide the facility of payment through UPI, due to which the number of transactions in cash is continuously decreasing. At the same time, UPI transactions are increasing rapidly.

Continuous rise

According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the number of Unified Payment Interface based transactions is continuously increasing. It registered a growth of 13.59% on a monthly basis and thus it increased to 18.3 billion in March from 16.11 billion in February 2025. The total value of UPI-based transactions stood at Rs 24.77 lakh crore in March. This figure is 12.79 percent higher than Rs 21.96 lakh crore in February.

UPI transactions in March

According to NPCI data, the average value of UPI transactions on a daily basis during this period was Rs 79,910 crore, which is 1.9 percent higher than February. While UPI transactions in March witnessed a growth of 25% in value and 36% in number on a year-on-year basis, reflecting people’s trust in digital payments.

At the same time, new rules regarding UPI have come into effect from April 1. According to the new guidelines, the UPI ID linked to the inactive mobile number will also be deactivated. If a UPI user’s mobile number registered with the bank is inactive for a long time, the user’s UPI ID will be unlinked and he/she will not be able to use the UPI service.

New rules implementedWho is number 1?

The government is constantly trying to promote the digital economy, in this sequence, payment is being made simple and secure through UPI. India has left behind many countries of the world in terms of digital payment. Phonepe currently dominates the UPI market in India. Data from the National Payments Corporation of India shows that in August last year, this company had captured more than half of the UPI market in India. PhonePe is a platform owned by America’s Walmart. It competes with Google Pay and Paytm. Before the Reserve Bank’s action, Paytm had a good hold on the market, which later weakened.