Digital transactions worth more than ₹2,000 crore were conducted in March using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform developed by the National Payments Corporation of India, according to an official statement.
“Over 18 million people have downloaded Bharat Interface for Money or the BHIM App, creating a new world record. The UPI-based transactions crossed ₹2,000 crore-mark in the month of March showing an increase of 20% since January this year,” according to the statement.
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka have emerged as the five states with the maximum number of winners under the Lucky Grahak Yojana and Digidhan Vyapar Yojana rolled out post-demonetisation to promote a less-cash economy. President Pranab Mukherjee picked six winners for the mega prizes under the two schemes on Sunday.
Mr. Mukherjee said it was necessary to reduce the cash in circulation and impart greater urgency to promoting secure digital payment methods to ensure greater transparency. “India has a long way to go to become a cashless society. Presently, we remain primarily a cash-based economy with about 95% of the personal consumption and 86% of all transactions being in cash.”
On Aadhaar, he said even countries which are technologically advanced than India with comparatively much smaller populations do not have such a system in place.
