Digital payments modes such as Unified Payments Interface, IMPS and AePS registered a marginal decline in February, but continued at robust levels.
BHIM UPI clocked 229 crore transactions worth ₹4.25-lakh crore in February this year, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India on Monday. In contrast, 230 crore transactions, worth ₹4.31-lakh crore, were processed through UPI in January 2021.
February 2021 was the first month that registered a drop in the volume and value of transactions on the UPI and IMPS platform since April 2020.
Transactions on the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) also fell to 31.87 crore in February, amounting to ₹2.75-lakh crore. In January, 34.65 crore transactions, worth ₹2.88-lakh crore, were processed through IMPS.
Similarly, transactions on Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS) declined to 6.66 crore in February from 7.88 crore in January. In terms of value, payments amounting to ₹18,661.65 crore took place through AePS last month, compared to ₹21,978.57 crore in January this year.
However, transactions on NETC FASTags and Bharat BillPay continued to surge.
FASTag transactions
In February, 15.89 crore transactions, amounting to ₹2,556.34 crore, took place through FASTags, which is the highest ever. In January, 14.85 crore transactions worth ₹2,397.84 crore were transacted through FASTags.
“In an attempt to create a cashless network of contactless toll collection not only on highways, but also in parking lots, NETC FASTag has achieved the greatest heights in acceptance,” said NPCI in a tweet.
The government has made FASTag mandatory for all vehicles from February 15 and the volumes are expected to surge further.
Bharat BillPay processed 2.82 crore payments of ₹4,222.37 crore in February against 2.72 crore transactions worth ₹4,051.92 crore in January 2021
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