UPI Payments Slowdown Post Festive Season, IMPS Transactions Also Suffer In November

The data showed that in value terms, the UPI transactions in November plunged 8 per cent to touch Rs 21.55 trillion in comparison to the preceding month

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions in October hit a fresh peak due to festive sales. However, the UPI payments in the following month clocked a sharp decline of 7 per cent in volume to touch 15.48 billion, data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) revealed.

The data showed that in value terms, the UPI transactions in November plunged 8 per cent to touch Rs 21.55 trillion in comparison to the preceding month, reported Business Standard. Notably, October clocked a record high 16.58 billion UPI transactions which were worth Rs 23.5 trillion. This was also the highest since the digital payment mechanism began functioning in April 2016. 

In September, the volume of UPI transactions touched 15.04 billion, while the transaction value of the transactions touched Rs 20.64 trillion. 

The boost in the usage of the payment mechanism in October was credited to the rise in person-to-merchant transactions during the festive season. This decreased in November, however, the decline was expected.

However, in comparison to a year-ago period, the UPI transactions in November 2024 soared 38 per cent in terms of volume and 24 per cent in value. The amount of daily transactions slumped to 516 million in November, as compared to 535 million clocked a month earlier. Meanwhile, the daily transaction value plunged from Rs 75,801 crore in October 2024 to Rs 71,840 crore in the period under review.

At the same time, the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions also witnessed a decline. In terms of volume, the IMPS transactions decreased 13 per cent to 408 million from 467 million reported in October. The IMPS transactions in terms of value tanked 11 per cent from Rs 6.29 trillion to Rs 5.58 trillion, on a sequential basis.

Meanwhile, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the IMPS transactions fell 14 per cent in terms of volume during the month under review. However, the value of transactions climbed 4 per cent in November 2024 as compared to a year-ago period.