Curated By: Business Desk
Last Updated: September 19, 2023, 17:49 IST
Nalin said that in 2017, he needed cash all the time.
In August 2023, India recorded its highest-ever UPI transactions in a single month, Nalin Mehta claimed in his book.
The renowned author and journalist Nalin Mehta has published a book titled India’s Techade. The book narrates the story of how UPI changed digital payments and infrastructures in India. Talking about his experience in the book, he said that in 2022, he travelled 2,000 kilometres through some of the most backward areas of rural Uttar Pradesh. He was following the election campaign of CM Yogi Adityanath. He was surprised by the fact that he didn’t use the cash for payment once during his whole trip. Everything was accessible with UPI.
He further writes in his book that he and his team always bought food from small eateries or roadside vendors. “Yet, even roadside fruit sellers, in areas inhabited by some of India’s poorest citizens, are comfortably transacting with UPI,” writes Mehta. India has now developed a free backend system for its people where people can now enjoy seamless money transactions between banks and merchants.
Reflecting on his previous experiences, Nalin Mehta says that five years ago in 2017 (he travelled UP in 2022), during the last state Assembly elections, he needed cash all the time. Credit cards were used to work in large cities and towns only. This time he withdrew a large amount of cash to remain prepared for the journey but due to the availability of UPI-enabled transactions, he wasn’t able to spend any cash during his trip.
In August 2023, India recorded its highest-ever UPI transactions in a single month, claims Nalin Mehta in his book. According to him, 10.58 billion transactions were made by the Indian people through their mobile phones. It totals up to Rs 15.76 lakh crore. According to the National Payments Corporation of India ( NPCI), the organisation which manages UPI, shows that its payment systems have recorded 61 per cent year-on-year growth in transaction volume and 47 per cent growth in value.
As per this data, India is estimated to account for almost half of the world’s real-time digital payments by 2023, says Nalin Mehta in India Techade. Its share was more than that of the next top 4 countries–Brazil, China, Thailand and South Korea.