The Ministry of Electronics & IT on Friday said India has witnessed tremendous growth in digital transaction in the last two years.

The number of digital payment transactions in the month of Oct, 2016 was 79.67 Cr. This has increased by 207% to 244.81 Cr in Aug, 2018, said the ministry.

Total value of transactions in Oct, 2016 was Rs.108.7 Lakh Crore which has increased by 88% to Rs. 204.86 Lakh Crore in Aug, 2018, it added.

According to official data, new payment modes – Bharat Interface for Money-Unified Payments Interface (BHIM-UPI), Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS) and National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) – have transformed digital payment ecosystem by increasing Person to Person (P2P) as well as Person to Merchant (P2M) payments.

At the same time existing payment modes such as debit cards, credit cards, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) and Pre Paid Instruments (PPI) have registered substantial growth.

With exponential growth, new payment modes have also emerged as a convenient alternative to existing payment modes like debit cards, credit cards, IMPS and PPI. For the first time, the number of monthly transactions under BHIM-UPI during Sept 2018 surpassed those of any other existing payment mode, said the ministry.

In Oct 2016, the number of transactions on BHIM-UPI was 1.031 lakh with a value of Rs 48 Cr., which has increased to 48.236 Cr transactions with a value of Rs 74,978.27 Cr in Oct 2018.

In Oct, 2016, the number of transactions on AePS was 2.57 Cr with a value of Rs 221 Cr, which has increased to 15.07 Cr transactions with a value of Rs. 5893 Cr in Oct 2018. 

In Oct 2016, the number of transactions on BBPS was 11,000 with a value of Rs. 0.035 Cr, which has increased to 2.94 Cr transactions with a value of Rs. 910 Cr. in Oct 2018. 

On Dec 2016, NETC was launched for electronic toll collection at toll plazas using FASTAG. Using NETC, the number of electronic transactions using FASTAG at toll plazas is 2.22 Cr with a value of Rs. 502 Cr in Oct 2018.