Budget 2023 | Significant Enhancement Seen In Digital Payments, National Economy Has Become More Formalised: Sitharaman

The Economic Survey 2022-23 also noted that UPI-based transactions grew 121 per cent in value and 115 per cent in volume.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023-24.

Source : ANI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union budget 2023-24 in Parliament on Wednesday. Highlighting the benefits of digital payments in the country, the Union Minister said that the national economy has become "more formalised", leading to a significant enhancement in digital payments. 

Sitharaman said, "The Indian economy has become more formalised as witnessed by a significant enhancement in digital payments."

The Indian economy has become more formalised as witnessed by a significant enhancement in digital payments: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pic.twitter.com/hYIGVg4hi5

— ANI (@ANI) February 1, 2023

This comes under the backdrop of the Economic Survey 2022-23, tabled on Tuesday, which noted that between 2019 and 2022, UPI-based transactions grew 121 per cent in value and 115 per cent in volume. Developed by the National Payments Corportation of India (NPCI), the instant real-time payment service was first introduced by former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan on April 11, 2016. 

In terms of digital public goods, the Survey noted that several government schemes have transformed the country’s marketplace, enabling citizens to access services across multiple sectors. These schemes include the likes of MyScheme, TrEDS, GEM, e-NAM, and UMANG.

It also noted that the consent-based data sharing framework — Account Aggregator — is presently live across over 110 crore bank accounts. Additionally, the Open Credit Enablement Network looks to democratise lending operations while allowing end-to-end digital loan applications. 

The Survey also noted that legislations are being introduced to ensure better user privacy, creating an ecosystem for standard, open, and interoperable protocols underlining robust data governance. 

Furthermore, as per the Economic Survey, the total telephone subscriber base in India stands at 117.8 crore, as of September 2022. Out of this, 44.3 per cent subscribers are based out of rural India. 

As of March 2022, the overall teledensity stood at 84.8 per cent. 

Between 2015 and 2021, the Survey noted that Internet subscriptions in rural areas saw a whopping 200 per cent increase.