UPI Expansion: Six Countries Adopt India’s Digital Payment System, Says Ashwini Vaishnaw

By A Staff Reporter

New Delhi: Union Minister for Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Wednesday announced that India's digital payment system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), has gained international recognition, with six countries—Singapore, France, UAE, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Mauritius—adopting it. The announcement came during a cabinet briefing, where he outlined key decisions made in the meeting with the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA).

"Digital India has received global recognition. Many prosperous countries are adopting this digitalisation progress. Our payment system is designed to be accessible to everyone," Vaishnaw stated.

Highlighting the scale of growth in digital transactions, he revealed that transactions worth ₹210 lakh crore have been processed through UPI. To further promote the system and ensure affordability, the government has decided to waive transaction costs and introduce an incentive scheme to prevent any additional burden on users due to Merchant Discount Rate (MDR).

"To ensure no burden of MDR, an incentive scheme was created. Now it has been decided that there would be no transaction cost, and there would also be incentives," he added.

The expansion of UPI to international markets is being seen as a major step toward strengthening India’s position as a leader in digital payments. With increasing global adoption, UPI is expected to revolutionize cross-border transactions and set a benchmark for digital economies worldwide.