UPI's Daily Average Passed 800 Million Payments for the First Time in September 2026, as the Month Closed at 24.07 Billion

UPI averaged 802 million payments a day in September 2026, the first month in which the daily average passed 800 million, according to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data that Business Today reported on 1 October 2026. The month’s total was 24.07 billion payments worth Rs 29.37 lakh crore (Rs 29.37 trillion), up 23 per cent in volume and 18 per cent in value on September 2025.

The average day also set a value mark: Rs 97,913 crore. That is higher than the daily averages reported for March (Rs 95,243 crore), April (Rs 96,766 crore), July (about Rs 96,400 crore, our division of the ministry’s July total by 31 days) and August (Rs 96,205 crore). Angel One calls it a new high.

The September figures

StartupTalky, working from NPCI’s monthly release, sets the month against September 2025:

• Volume: 24.07 billion payments, against 19.63 billion a year earlier.
• Value: Rs 29.37 lakh crore, against Rs 24.90 lakh crore.
• Average day, volume: 802 million, against 654 million, a rise of 22.6 per cent.
• Average day, value: Rs 97,913 crore, against Rs 82,991 crore.

Outlook Money, DD India (IANS) and Chronicle India report the same totals. NPCI’s own statistics page was not reachable for this article, so the monthly figures rest on these agreeing press reports of the NPCI release.

August’s total of 24.51 billion payments, worth Rs 29.82 lakh crore, remains the highest monthly count. September’s was 1.8 per cent lower because the month has 30 days to August’s 31. Reeju Datta, co-founder of Cashfree, told Business Today that the dip mostly reflected the shorter month, and that daily value rose to nearly Rs 98,000 crore as higher-value payments grew. He also pointed to Ganesh Chaturthi in mid-September. On a per-day basis the average rose from 791 million in August to 802 million.

NPCI’s own FAQ of 15 September puts August at 2,451 crore transactions, the same 24.51 billion, and rounds the value to Rs 29.9 lakh crore against the Rs 29.82 lakh crore in press reports.

How the daily average climbed in 2026

The monthly releases give a run of daily averages for the year:

• February: 728 million, per the Department of Financial Services (DFS).
• March: 730 million, from 22.64 billion payments.
• April: 745 million, from 22.35 billion.
• June: 757 million, from 22.72 billion.
• July: about 763 million, from 23.66 billion over 31 days (our division).
• August: 791 million, from 24.51 billion.
• September: 802 million, from 24.07 billion over 30 days.

May is left out because the reports disagree on its daily figure. Its total, 2,320 crore payments, is in the finance ministry’s release, which says May was the first month above 2,300 crore.

From February to September the daily average rose by about 10 per cent (our division of 802 by 728). In every month shown, it was above the month before. By the finance ministry’s count, July’s 2,366 crore was the highest monthly volume at the time of its 24 August release, and August’s total then passed it.

What the payments are made of

The ministry’s 24 August release splits UPI traffic two ways. Payments to merchants are 63 per cent of volume. Transfers between people are 71 per cent of value. In the 2025-26 financial year, 86 per cent of merchant payments were below Rs 500, and 59 per cent of person-to-person transfers were too.

The release counts 741 banks live on UPI as of July 2026, up from 44 in 2016-17, and says UPI operates in 11 countries. Anand Kumar Bajaj, founder and chief executive of PayNearby, told Business Today that digital payments were spreading into smaller towns and rural areas.

The wider system is described in tuput’s piece on India’s payment rail, and the countries that accept UPI are covered in India’s digital public infrastructure abroad.

From 90,000 payments in a month to 24 billion

UPI launched on 25 August 2016. The ministry’s release gives 90,000 transactions for its first month, August 2016, and 1.78 crore for the whole of 2016-17. For 2025-26 it gives 24,162 crore transactions, worth about Rs 314 lakh crore, which it calls almost a 13,000-fold rise in volume.

One average day in September 2026, at 802 million, carried about 45 times as many payments as the whole of 2016-17 (our division of 802 million by 17.8 million). The year-ago comparison is smaller but still large: the average day in September 2025 was 654 million, so the daily count has gained 148 million in twelve months.

How September’s total compares with Brazil’s Pix and with the fast-payment systems of Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States is set out in how UPI compares with the world’s payment systems.

The one-billion target

On 28 April 2025, News On AIR reported, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told a review meeting that the aim should be one billion UPI transactions a day within two to three years. At 802 million, September’s average is 80 per cent of that figure (our division). The same report put UPI’s active users at about 45 crore (450 million) at the time.

The merchant fee and the October figures

A merchant discount rate (MDR, the fee a shop pays its bank to accept a payment) comes into force for part of UPI from 15 October 2026, according to NPCI’s FAQ. The finance ministry’s release of 15 September sets it at 0.4 per cent on merchant payments above Rs 2,000, capped at Rs 300 for payments of Rs 75,000 and above. Person-to-person transfers stay free at any amount, and the ministry estimates that about 96 per cent of merchant payments are unaffected.

IANS reported that traders’ bodies withdrew a call for a “No UPI Day” on 2 October after meeting the Finance Minister. NPCI had not published October’s figures, the first month with the fee in force, as of 29 October 2026.