Latest news with #UnifiedPaymentInterface
India Today
2 days ago
- Business
- India Today
Post offices across India to start digital payments from August 2025
Payment at post offices across India will soon become easier. The Department of Posts has announced plans for all post offices to accept digital payments at their counters from August 2025. This will be possible after upgrading the information technology system, which is being called IT 2.0, to provide digital payments through dynamic QR coding, which links to UPI. Officials said that the Department of Posts would provide help for customers who want to pay digitally instead of now, post offices in India could not accept digital payments because the systems could not communicate with UPI (Unified Payment Interface). That is changing. The IT 2.0 upgrade will provide an application that will allow counters to generate unique dynamic QR codes for each transaction, making it easier and safer for customers wishing to pay for a service has been a pilot rollout of the new system in Karnataka already. All the head offices in Mysore, Bagalkot, and several small offices have successfully implemented QR-based booking of mail products. According to officials, the new payment system capable of making digital payments will be in place across all post offices in the coming years and is expected to be ready by August 2025. Previously, the Department of Posts had implemented static QR codes at counters to facilitate digital payments. However, this initiative faced technical concerns and a significant number of complaints from customers, which led to its termination. The department has now taken the lessons from that experience and decided to implement dynamic QR codes. Dynamic QR codes are generated in real-time for each transaction and allow customers to make payments securely and more reliably than static is expected to improve access for millions of people visiting post offices daily, and particularly customers in rural and semi-urban areas, to undergo digital payments for services such as postage, parcels, and deposits into savings schemes. This initiative is also seen as part of the broader push towards a cashless India.- Ends
Hindustan Times
18-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
India's fintech market to become $400 billion in next 3 years: Finance minister
New Delhi: India's fintech market is flourishing and projected to become $400 billion in the next three years, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday urging the industry to continue 'fearlessly' innovating people-centric new solutions to maintain the country's leadership position in this area. India accounts for almost half of all real time digital transactions in the world, she said at the Digital Payments Awards 2025 ceremony organised by the department of financial services (DFS), an arm of the finance ministry. According to industry estimates, the country's fintech market is estimated at around $110 billion with an adoption rate of 87%, significantly high compared to the global average of 67%. 'The fintech revolution in India will further flourish. Our fintech market is projected to grow to over $400 billion by 2028-29, reflecting an anticipated annual growth of over 30%. The scale of opportunity is immense. I firmly believe its best chapters are yet to be written. Together, let us Innovate, Include, and Inspire. Innovate new solutions fearlessly, include every citizen in your vision, and inspire the world with what India can achieve,' the finance minister said. The speed at which innovation is happening in India is just a dream for many other countries, she said. 'Several advanced countries are nowhere close to the kind of momentum our fintech companies have achieved, not just in terms of progress in their respective areas, but also in creating entirely new paradigms. This is something which is very unique of the Indian fintech sector,' she said. She said the scale of adoption in India is also phenomenal and the same is globally acclaimed. Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for 'Make in India, Make for the world', she said: 'In this context, Indian fintech innovations have the potential to become global public goods that can benefit other emerging and developed economies. This will open new markets for our firms.' 'Our players must aim to export our successful models abroad and capture global markets. We have the talent, we have the market scale, and we have the proven solutions,' she said. India's international merchant payments through Unified Payment Interface (UPI) are now accepted at select merchant outlets in seven countries -- Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Quoting from a World Bank's report, she said that through the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), India achieved an 80% financial inclusion rate in just six years. 'Some observers who have gone through this report have said that this feat would have otherwise taken nearly 50 years,' she added. During the pandemic, payment apps became lifelines – enabling contactless payments and doorstep banking when mobility was restricted, she said. As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India's Digital Payments Index, which measures the overall usage of digital payments, has quadrupled in the last five years, from 100 in 2018 to 465 in 2024, she added. India now accounts for over 48.5% of all real-time digital payment transactions in the world. Over 35 crore users are part of the UPI ecosystem.
Time of India
16-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Faster UPI transaction now as NPCI cut UPI Application Programming Interface response time, know how it will impact users
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills What did NPCI say about UPI APIs? Serial number UPI API Entities Existing response time Revised response time 1. Request Pay, Response Pay (Debit and Credit) Remitter Bank and Beneficiary Bank 30 seconds 15 seconds 2. Check transaction status Remitter Bank and Beneficiary bank 30 seconds 10 seconds 3. Transaction reversal (debit and credit) Remitter Bank and Beneficiary Bank 30 seconds 10 seconds 4. Validate Address (Pay, Collect) Payer PSP, Payee PSP, Beneficiary Bank (Account+IFSC based transactions) 15 seconds 10 seconds What does this mean? Will a faster response time of UPI APIs result in higher cost? Consumers can now experience faster UPI transactions, especially when making merchant payments. This is because the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has gone for a significant update in the UPI server's software. These changes that are made in the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) server's software have become effective from June 16, 2025, will enable faster response simple terms, merchant's bank account which accepts UPI payments from a customer needs to communicate with the customer's bank account through a server to execute various tasks such as validate the transaction, know its status, reverse any failed transactions, etc. This communication bridge between two banks is done by the UPI APIs for UPI the UPI API (Application Programming Interface) which makes this communication bridge between the merchant's bank terminal and your UPI enabled bank account takes anywhere between 15 to 30 seconds to respond to the request. This is where NPCI has made the current changes. NPCI has cut the response time this API request to anywhere between 10 to 15 seconds i.e. up to 66% reduction in time if we take the maximum reduction from 30 seconds to 10 to this move by the NPCI, consumers making UPI payments can expect a faster transaction time and faster reversal of failed UPI transactions. Read below to know more about which particular consumer UPI transactions will get faster now due to this UPI API level a circular dated April 26, 2025, NPCI said:With the objective of streamlining the performance of UPI, it is hereby informed that the response time for UPI APIs initiated by NPCI is revised as follows:Source: NPCI circularNPCI said in the circular: 'The aforementioned revisions are intended to improve the customer experience. The members are required to ensure that they make the necessary changes in their system so that responses are handled within the revised time. If the members have any dependency/configuration changes at partner/ merchant's end, then the same also has to be taken care accordingly. Further, Members are requested to ensure that the changes to the response time should not adversely impact the technical decline (TD) thresholds.'Rahul Jain - CFO, NTT DATA Payment Services India explains what happens in the scenario where you scan a merchant QR code to pay them.'The cycle works like this for a consumer scanning a merchant QR code and paying: first the remitter bank raises a query to the UPI server through the UPI APIs, then the beneficiary bank answers the query and accepts the payment. If the payment could not be accepted then the money will be returned to the remitter bank and the customer gets a refund. The changes made by the NPCI are in this UPI API response time.'According to Jain, this means now the remitter and beneficiary banks will communicate amongst themselves faster and hence the transaction's status will be updated faster. Jain explains using an example: if earlier it took maximum 30 seconds to process the response for a UPI transaction request now the same transaction will take half of this time i.e. 15 seconds. So in 30 seconds now two transactions can be done instead of only one earlier.'Vishal Maru- Global Processing Head Financial Software and Systems- FSS, says: "In order to process the higher volume of UPI transactions, its' API response time has been reduced as stated in this circular. Accelerated API cycles effectively address this issue. Consumers will now receive faster transaction confirmations, particularly during reversals or collection requests, instances that usually induce stress."Maru highlights how the faster response time of UPI APIs diminishes system-level retry storms, which not only congest the system but can also lead to cascading timeouts. "By narrowing response windows, UPI is evolving into a self-regulating and failure-resistant network. Quicker timeouts also facilitate a more equitable distribution of traffic among PSPs and banks, enhancing consistency even during peak periods and benefiting users of smaller or regional banks not solely those utilizing the largest applications."Maru from FSS, says that the faster response time of UPI APIs may initially increase the cost by a slight margin, but in the long run it can decrease.'What sets this apart is that shorter response times also enhance cache efficiency and lessen unnecessary database interactions, thereby making each transaction less demanding on system resources. Consequently, although initial expenditures may see a slight increase, the cost per transaction is anticipated to decrease over time, benefiting banks, payment providers, and ultimately consumers. This is not merely an enhancement in speed; it represents a profound systemic optimization that aligns with India's goal to scale UPI to 1,000 crore monthly transactions by 2026 without sacrificing trust, cost, or user says this faster response time feature may not add any cost burden for anybody.'This may add some incremental volume to UPI transactions but more so it will help consumers and merchants. For consumers it would mean faster UPI transactions and for merchants it would mean faster payment received. Also I don't think this is going to add any additional costs of running UPI servers for banks and NPCI,' says Jain.
Hindustan Times
13-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Tech a means to empower poorest of poor, says PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday that his government in its 11 years has brought innumerable benefits for people by leveraging the power of technology and credited the role of youngsters in shaping and driving many of these changes. 'Leveraging the power of technology has brought innumerable benefits for people. Service delivery and transparency have been greatly boosted. Furthermore, technology has become a means of empowering the lives of the poorest of poor,' PM Modi wrote on X. The PM reposted an X thread by the IT ministry-led MyGovIndia summarising key digital developments over the past decade. Titled 'Tech it to the top,' the thread highlighted a 2,500-fold increase in Unified Payment Interface (UPI) transaction volumes over the last eight years, and its expansion to over seven countries including a recent entry into Europe via France. According to the recent National Statistical Office's Comprehensive Modular Survey: Telecom 2025, nearly 99.5% of Indians aged 15 to 29 years who can make online banking transactions said they are capable of using UPI for digital payments. In a separate post, the government shared updates on its Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system, which it said has helped transfer over ₹44 lakh crore across 322 schemes and saved ₹3.48 lakh crore by cutting out leakages. The scale-up of Aadhaar, now used by over 1.4 billion people, was also presented as a pillar of digital governance. The thread also touched on drone innovation, mentioning how it has empowered rural women in initiatives like 'Drone Didis' to strategic deployments in Operation Sindoor. 'Our self-reliance is soaring with 550+ Indian drone companies emerging, and 14,000+ SwaYaan beneficiaries ready to fly,' said the post. In the field of artificial intelligence, the government said it has supported the development of AI Centres of Excellence and AI tools such as Chitralekha (an open-source video transcreation platform) and Everest 1.0 (a multilingual AI model developed under the Hanooman project). The government also lauded the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), a ₹1.55 lakh crore production-PLI scheme aimed at attracting investment and promoting local chip design. The mission was launched by the IT ministry in 2021, and has so far approved six semiconductor units across Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Assam, with many more to be announced soon. In the space sector, ISRO's launch of 393 foreign satellites was cited as a marker of progress, along with a proposed goal of setting up a Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) by 2035. Finally, the government noted that its digital literacy campaign in rural areas, PMGDISHA, had trained over 6.3 crore individuals achieving its targets ahead of schedule. The campaign comes as part of a broader effort by the government to showcase achievements across sectors, as it completes over a decade in office since PM Modi took office on May 26, 2014.
Hindustan Times
12-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
‘Leveraging power of technology': Modi reflects on India's digital progress in last 11 years
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reflected on the country's progress in technology and digital public infrastructure over the past decade as the BJP-led government marked 11 years in office last month, and credited the role of young Indians in shaping and driving many of these changes. 'Leveraging the power of technology has brought innumerable benefits for people. Service delivery and transparency have been greatly boosted. Furthermore, technology has become a means of empowering the lives of the poorest of poor,' PM Modi said in a post on X. The Prime Minister also shared a post by the IT ministry-led MyGovIndia, summarising key digital developments over the past decade. Titled 'Tech it to the top', the post highlighted, among other things, a 2,500-fold increase in Unified Payment Interface (UPI) transaction volumes over the past eight years, and its expansion to over seven countries, including a recent entry into Europe via France. According to the recent National Statistical Office's Comprehensive Modular Survey: Telecom 2025, nearly 99.5% of Indians aged 15-29, who can make online banking transactions, said they are capable of using UPI for digital payments. In a separate post, the Centre shared updates on its Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system, which it said helped transfer over ₹44 lakh crore across 322 schemes and saved ₹3.48 lakh crore by cutting out leakages. The scale-up of Aadhaar, now used by over 1.4 billion people, was also presented as a pillar of digital governance. The post also touched upon India's innovations in the drone sector, mentioning how it has empowered rural women in initiatives like 'Drone Didis' to strategic deployments in Operation Sindoor. 'Our self-reliance is soaring with 550+ Indian drone companies emerging, and 14,000+ SwaYaan beneficiaries ready to fly,' the post read. In the field of artificial intelligence, the government said it has supported the development of AI Centres of Excellence and AI tools such as Chitralekha (an open-source video transcreation platform) and Everest 1.0 (a multilingual AI model developed under the Hanooman project). The government also lauded the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), a ₹1.55-lakh-crore production-PLI scheme aimed at attracting investment and promoting local chip design. The mission, launched by the IT ministry in 2021, has so far approved six semiconductor units across Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Assam, with many more to be announced soon. In the space sector, ISRO's launch of 393 foreign satellites was cited as a marker of progress, along with a proposed goal of setting up a Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) by 2035. Finally, the government noted that its digital literacy campaign in rural areas, PMGDISHA, had trained over 6.3 crore individuals achieving its targets ahead of schedule. The campaign comes as part of a broader effort by the government to showcase achievements across sectors, as it completes over a decade in office since PM Modi took over on May 26, 2014.
