The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has surged over the past five years. Launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on 11 April 2016, under the regulatory supervision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), UPI has become the backbone for digital payments in India. It is authorised under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

During the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, Lok Sabha MP Dr Manna Lal Rawat asked the government to provide the current number of UPI users and UPI transactions in the country, along with state-wise details of users. He also asked whether UPI is being used in countries outside India and, if so, requested the names of those countries and their partner institutions.

The Lok Sabha MP also sought details on new technical or policy initiatives taken by the government to make UPI-based digital transactions more secure and transparent.

Responding to the query on 22 July 2026, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that, according to NPCI, 55.49 crore users had been onboarded onto the UPI platform as of June 2026. He also said that the government, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and NPCI have undertaken various initiatives from time to time to make UPI-based transactions more secure and transparent.

“These, inter alia, include risk-based transaction limits to curb fraudulent transactions, safeguards against unauthorized mobile number changes and misuse of SMS-based authentication, as well as enhanced security requirements for UPI applications.

Further, NPCI has issued the Comprehensive UPI Information Security Framework (CUISF) 2025 and the Mobile Application Security Framework, mandating advanced security controls to strengthen the safety and resilience of the UPI ecosystem,” the minister said.

UPI transactions surge over 5 years

UPI transactions have increased sharply over the last five financial years. In FY 2021-22, UPI processed 4,595.61 crore transactions worth Rs 84.16 lakh crore. The volume rose to 8,371.44 crore transactions in FY 2022-23, 13,112.95 crore in FY 2023–24, and 18,586.60 crore in FY 2024-25.

In FY 2025–26, UPI recorded its highest-ever performance, processing 24,161.69 crore transactions with a total value of Rs 314.23 lakh crore.

The Union Minister said that NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It was set up in April 2020 to work with foreign institutions and expand NPCI’s payment platforms, including UPI and the RuPay card network, to international markets.

“This enables Indian tourists and the Indian diaspora to make seamless cross-border payments while assisting partner countries and entities in building their payment infrastructure, such as UPI-like real-time payment systems or RuPay like domestic card schemes,” Chaudhary said in a written statement.