India’s digital payments ecosystem continues to scale new heights, with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions touching fresh records in November.
According to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data, India’s UPI transaction volume jumped 22% annually and continued its rapid rise crossing over 20 billion transactions worth INR26.32 lakh crore in November 2025. The GST collections for November 2025 have increased compared to the previous financial year, showing a stable tax base and sustained compliance levels.? However, gross GST collections for November 2025 work out to Rs.1,70,276 crore, which is lower than last month’s figures.?
Dilip Modi, Founder & CEO of Spice Money says the numbers show how deeply digital payments are now embedded in everyday India.
“UPI’s rise is more than a statistic; it reflects India’s collective digital progress and a foundation for a more empowered financial future.” — Dilip Modi, Founder & CEO of Spice Money
“UPI surpassing 20 billion transactions worth ?26.32 lakh crore in November 2025 shows how deeply digital payments are now embedded in everyday India. A 23% year-on-year rise highlights growing trust, rapid adoption, and a major behavioral shift across the country.
As we move forward, strengthening resilience, security, and inclusion will be key to ensuring digital payments remain safe, accessible, and beneficial for every citizen. UPI’s rise is more than a statistic; it reflects India’s collective digital progress and a foundation for a more empowered financial future.”
Anup Agarwal, Co-founder of Kiwi, says November’s UPI numbers once again show how deeply digital payments have entered everyday India.
“Alongside this rise, there is a clear shift in how consumers are beginning to use UPI. Credit on UPI is emerging as an important part of this journey, giving users the flexibility to manage expenses, maintain cash flow and build a stronger credit footprint while continuing to pay through a familiar and trusted interface.” — Anup Agarwal, Co-founder of Kiwi
“More than 20 billion transactions and over INR26 lakh crore in value reflect not just scale but a mature habit. Even after October’s record highs, activity in November remained steady, which shows the level of trust and reliability people now associate with UPI.
“The year-on-year growth tells an even stronger story. Last November, UPI processed around 15 billion transactions and about INR21 lakh crore in value. The sharp rise to today’s levels shows how rapidly digital confidence is spreading across every part of the country.
“Alongside this rise, there is a clear shift in how consumers are beginning to use UPI. Credit on UPI is emerging as an important part of this journey, giving users the flexibility to manage expenses, maintain cash flow and build a stronger credit footprint while continuing to pay through a familiar and trusted interface. This behaviour is becoming more visible with each passing month and will play a meaningful role in shaping the next phase of India’s digital financial ecosystem.”
Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD and CEO of PayNearby, says with 20.47 billion transactions and a value of INR26.32 lakh crore in November, UPI has touched a new milestone.
“What stands out is the 682 million daily transactions, indicating not just scale but trust. This increase is due to the rapid growth of QR acceptance, interoperable wallets, and digital financial services for the last mile.” — Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD and CEO of PayNearby
“The 32% increase in the number of transactions and 22% growth in the value year-on-year demonstrate that digital payments have become deeply rooted in everyday life, with small merchants and consumers from across Bharat transacting with absolute trust and ease.
“What stands out is the 682 million daily transactions, indicating not just scale but trust. This increase is due to the rapid growth of QR acceptance, interoperable wallets, and digital financial services for the last mile. This demonstrates that digital payments are now the foundation of commerce in India from metros to the smallest gram panchayats.
“When innovations such as Credit on UPI, conversational payments, and AI-led risk intelligence become mature in the years to come, we will see an even more digitally inclusive economy. At PayNearby, we remain committed to facilitating this expansion by equipping retailers and micro-entrepreneurs with a frictionless, secure, and hyperlocal digital payment infrastructure so that Bharat can fully and confidently be a part of India’s digital ??????????progress”.
Akash Sinha, CEO and Co-founder, Cashfree Payments, says that UPI handling 20.47 billion transactions in November shows that India’s digital payments story is booming, even after the festive peak in October.
“What’s especially powerful is how tier-2 and tier-3 adoption, ubiquitous QR infrastructure, and the shift toward higher-value digital payments are steadily expanding the system’s depth.” — Akash Sinha, CEO and Co-founder, Cashfree Payments
“A 32% year-on-year rise in transaction count and 22% growth in value shows that digital payments are no longer a habit for the few, they have become the default way India transacts, across metros and small towns alike. What’s especially powerful is how tier-2 and tier-3 adoption, ubiquitous QR infrastructure, and the shift toward higher-value digital payments are steadily expanding the system’s depth. With scaling of credit on UPI and launch of innovations like Reserve Pay and biometric authentication, we’re moving from digitising payments to reimagining what payments can do. The month was further a milestone for us with Cashfree being at the forefront of powering the entry of several global SaaS and ecommerce players into India, enabling seamless, compliant cross-border payments.”
However, the gross domestic GST collections for the month of November 2025, which pertain to supplies made in the month of October, 2025, have shown a decline of 2.3% compared with the same numbers for the month of November 2024. This data is for the first full month after the GST rate reduction.
Karthik Mani, Partner, Indirect tax at BDO India, says this drop is clearly due to the effect of GST rate reductions coming into effect from 22 September 2025.
“While the net GST collections on an overall basis, excluding cess, have shown a minor increase of 1.3% (net decrease if the cess is also considered) due to significant increase in IGST collections on imports as well as some dip in the amount of refunds, it would now be interesting to see the GST collections for the next few months to see the level at which the collection numbers stabilise after the rate reductions.” — Karthik Mani, Partner, Indirect tax at BDO India
“It was hoped that the increase in volume of purchases due to increased affordability from the rate reduction, that too, in the festive period of Diwali which traditionally sees significantly high demand, would offset the drop in revenue due to GST rate reductions, but instead, there is a reduction in the Gross domestic GST Collections.
“Also, while previously the compensation cess collection was also included in the GST collection data, present data has treated cess separately, and if the cess is also considered as a part of Gross domestic GST Collection, the numbers would show a further dip, since the cess collection has reduced by two-thirds, mainly due to only tobacco now being subject to the cess and other items like aerated beverages and motor vehicles going outside the ambit of cess.
“While the net GST collections on an overall basis, excluding cess, have shown a minor increase of 1.3% (net decrease if the cess is also considered) due to significant increase in IGST collections on imports as well as some dip in the amount of refunds, it would now be interesting to see the GST collections for the next few months to see the level at which the collection numbers stabilise after the rate reductions.”
Even in October, as per NPCI data, UPI clocked over 20.7 billion transactions in the month, valued at INR27.28 lakh crore, driven by festive spending, GST reductions, and growing user confidence in digital modes of payment.
