UPI transaction volumes hiked by 23% YoY in October, value surged 16%: NPCI

New Delhi: The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transaction volumes went up 23 per cent (year-on-year) to 25.47 billion in the month of October, while UPI transaction value surged 16 per cent to Rs 31.53 lakh crore last month, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Sunday.

On an average basis, UPI processed around 822 million transactions daily in October, with average daily transaction value standing at about Rs 1,01,707 crore.

In September, the UPI transaction volumes went up 23 per cent (year-on-year) to 24.07 billion, while UPI transaction value rose 18 per cent to Rs 29.37 lakh crore.

Moreover, the IMPS instant fund transfer amount stood at Rs 7.63 lakh crore in October, up 19 per cent year-on-year. Average daily IMPS transaction counts were 12.10 million last month, with Rs 24,601 crore average daily transaction amount, the NPCI data showed.

The NPCI last month deferred the implementation of Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on select UPI merchant transactions until after Diwali, providing temporary relief to merchants and consumers during the festive season. The NPCI said that its UPI and Services Steering Committee had decided to postpone the rollout, keeping the festive season in mind.

The MDR framework was originally scheduled to come into effect from October 15.

The payments body added that the revised implementation date will be communicated separately.

Under the proposed MDR framework, select merchant categories including railways, telecom services, insurance and fuel purchases would attract a flat MDR of Rs 5 on UPI transactions exceeding Rs 2,000. For payments made to large merchants above the same threshold, a charge of 0.4 per cent would be levied, subject to a maximum cap of Rs 300 per transaction.

NPCI has maintained that the revised MDR structure will have a limited impact on the broader UPI ecosystem.

According to estimates shared earlier, only around 4 per cent of merchant transactions are expected to fall under the ambit of the new framework, while over 95 per cent of person-to-merchant (P2M) UPI transactions will continue to remain exempt from MDR charges.