RBI’s Digital Payments Index Increases by 10.7%, to 493.22 in March 2025

Current Context: On July 28, 2025, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its latest Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI), which rose to 493.22, marking a 10.7% year-on-year increase from March 2024.

• Base Year: March 2018 (Index = 100); the index has surged nearly 5x (393.2%) over 7 years.
• Growth Drivers: Strong performance in payment infrastructure (supply-side) and payment performance, especially via UPI and QR codes.
• Index Composition: Based on five parameters — Payment Enablers (25%), Demand-side Infra (10%), Supply-side Infra (15%), Payment Performance (45%), Consumer Centricity (5%).
• India's Digital Transactions Boom (2020–2025) Between FY 2020 and FY 2025, India recorded over 65,000 crore digital transactions, valued at more than ₹12,000 lakh crore, reflecting the explosive growth of its fintech ecosystem.
• Digital Push: Supported by initiatives like PIDF, which deployed 4.77 crore digital touchpoints across Tier 2–6 cities, Northeast, and J&K.
• Significance: Reflects India’s deepening digital ecosystem and global leadership in real-time payments, with UPI handling 48.5% of global volume.

Question:

Q.1 What was the value of the RBI’s Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) as of March 2025, released in July 2025?
a) 460.12
b) 479.85
c) 493.22
d) 501.75

Answer: c) The Reserve Bank of India – Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) stood at 493.22 in March 2025, as per data released on July 28, 2025.