The National Payments Corporation of India said UPI handled 24.07 billion transactions worth ₹29.37 lakh crore in September, averaging about 802 million payments each day—the first time daily volume crossed the 800-million mark even though the calendar month had only 30 days.
Month-on-month nuance
August posted 24.51 billion transactions valued at ₹29.82 lakh crore across 31 days. September’s slightly lower monthly totals therefore reflect one fewer day, not weaker usage: average daily value rose to about ₹97,913 crore from ₹96,205 crore in August, according to NPCI figures cited by CNBC TV18.
Year on year, volumes grew 23 percent and values 18 percent, underscoring how deeply UPI has embedded in retail, transit, and peer-to-peer transfers. Immediate Payment Service volumes also rose, with ₹7.06 lakh crore moved in September.
Festive lift
Payment executives attributed part of September’s ticket-size increase to Ganesh Chaturthi spending and early Navratri ordering. Cashfree co-founder Reeju Datta told CNBC TV18 that many incremental payments were small-ticket through spring and summer, while September added higher-value legs as households bought festival supplies.
MDR debate
The finance ministry’s 15 September decision to reintroduce a 0.4 percent merchant discount rate on person-to-merchant UPI payments above ₹2,000—from 15 October—shadowed the second half of the month. Livemint analysis of daily NPCI data showed volumes dipping modestly after the announcement, though NPCI chief executive Dilip Asbe said at a 24 September event that overall activity should remain steady once merchants understand the cap of ₹300 per transaction.
The Supreme Court earlier allowed the rollout to proceed, rejecting interim challenges from merchant associations. Technology desks are watching whether October daily averages hold above 800 million once fees apply to large-ticket scans.
Rail and transit
September also saw continued UPI adoption on suburban rail and metro gates as cities push contactless ticketing. Those flows inflate transaction counts with low values, which helps explain rising volume with only moderate value growth earlier in the year.
Competitive rails
RuPay credit on UPI and bank-linked credit lines add another layer of volume not present five years ago. Issuers gain interchange on credit-mode UPI, while debit remains the bulk of merchant scans. NPCI’s statistics aggregate both.
Operational resilience
Switch uptime during monsoon-related power cuts in eastern states remained above internal targets, according to bank operations heads interviewed by InfoHandle. Failures still spike when telco SMS gateways lag, a separate issue from switch capacity.
What October will test
Diwali spending begins in earnest this month, coinciding with MDR activation. If daily averages stay near 802 million while ticket sizes climb, NPCI will have evidence that pricing did not choke adoption. If volumes stall, expect renewed political pressure to revisit merchant fees. For now, September’s ledger shows UPI still accelerating on a per-day basis despite a shorter month on the calendar.