India's Digital Payments Landscape Expands

Digital payments in India have shown remarkable growth, with the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Digital Payments Index (DPI) marking a 10.7% year-on-year increase as of March 2025. This uptick underscores the nation's deepening adoption and enhanced performance in online transactions.

Understanding the RBI-DPI

The RBI-DPI, standing at 493.22 in March 2025, up from 445.5 in March 2024, uses March 2018 as its base period (set at 100). This semi-annual update highlights the significant strides in digital payment infrastructure and performance across India.

Key Drivers of Growth

According to the RBI, the index's rise is propelled by advancements in Payment Infrastructure and Payment Performance. Launched in January 2021, the RBI-DPI serves as a composite measure to gauge the digitization of payments nationwide.

Index Parameters

The index evaluates five critical parameters: Payment Enablers, Payment Infrastructure (Demand and Supply-side factors), Payment Performance, and Consumer Centricity, with varying weights to reflect their impact on the digital payments ecosystem.

India's Digital Future

With the RBI publishing the index twice a year, the consistent growth reflects the success of India's digital payment ecosystem, bolstered by governmental and central bank initiatives aimed at financial inclusion and digital infrastructure development.