DPI Brief — April 15, 2026

Today’s DPI Updates (7 Layers)

L1: Identity & Authentication

Census 2027 Digital Self-Enumeration Crosses 5.72 Lakh Households

India’s first fully digital census has seen over 5.72 lakh households opt for self-enumeration through the online portal as of April 10, 2026. ¹ The initiative, a first in Indian census history, allows citizens in select states and union territories to fill in their details digitally and receive a special Houselisting ID. The digital approach marks a significant shift from paper-based enumeration.

UIDAI Steady Operations; No Major Updates

Aadhaar-related services continue正常运行 with no significant policy announcements from UIDAI this period. The Authentication and eKYC services remain operational for permitted Requesting Entities.

L2: Payments & Financial Rails

UPI Crosses Borders: PayU Partnership Takes UPI to Central Asia

8B (Central Asia) and PayU have announced a strategic partnership to enable UPI payments for Indian tourists at merchants across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and surrounding regions. ² Through PayU’s API integration with 8B’s merchant network, Indian consumers can now pay via UPI, net banking, and local cards at Central Asian businesses — extending India’s DPI flagship abroad.

bob World Lite: Bank of Baroda + Jio Bring Banking to Feature Phones

Bank of Baroda and Reliance Jio launched bob World Lite, described as the first comprehensive mobile banking app designed for feature phone users, on the JioPhone Prima 4G device. ³ The app runs on affordable feature phones (unlike conventional banking apps requiring smartphones), aligning with RBI and government goals for inclusive digital payments. The initiative leverages Jio’s extensive rural reach and Bank of Baroda’s nationwide branch network.

RBI Holds Repo Rate at 5.25%; Digital Payments Focus Continues

The Reserve Bank of India kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.25% on April 8, citing uncertainty from the Middle East crisis and its impact on growth and inflation outlook. ⁴ The central bank has been actively promoting digital payments as part of its broader financial inclusion mandate.

L3: Documents & Data Exchange

Equinix Mumbai MB4 Data Centre Opens; DPI Infrastructure Gets Cloud Boost

Equinix opened its fourth IBX data centre (MB4) in Mumbai on April 9, 2026, to support high-performance workloads and hybrid multicloud deployments across India. ⁵ The company noted that India’s digital economy — projected to reach $1 trillion by 2027–28 — is being propelled by rapid expansion of DPI platforms including Aadhaar, UPI, and ONDC. The MB4 facility is part of Equinix’s CN1 Chennai data centre launched in September 2025, providing a multi-city cloud ecosystem.

DigiLocker Usage Growing; No Major Policy Changes

DigiLocker continues to serve as the central document exchange platform with no significant new announcements this period. The platform remains integrated with over 5,000 issuer agencies.

L4: Commerce & Logistics

Flipkart & Amazon Intensify Quick Commerce Play; ONDC in Context

Flipkart (Walmart-owned) and Amazon are ramping up quick commerce operations in India, with over 6,000 dark stores now in operation nationally. ⁶ Flipkart is seeing 25–30% of quick commerce orders from Tier 2+ towns, demonstrating DPI-driven commerce expansion beyond metro cities. Meanwhile, India’s e-retail GMV reached $65–66 billion in 2025, growing at 19–21% CAGR, with Bain projecting it to hit $170–180 billion by 2030. ⁷

GeM (Government e-Marketplace): Procurement Digitisation Ongoing

No major new announcements from GeM this period. The platform continues to serve as the government’s primary digital procurement channel.

L5: Sectoral Infrastructure

India’s Digital Health Records: ABHA Ecosystem Expanding

The Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) ecosystem continues to grow as the backbone of India’s digital health infrastructure. No major new policy announcements this period, but the Health Ministry’s focus on linking ABHA with health records remains active.

Agriculture: Digital Farm Initiatives; AgriStack Development

The government continues work on AgriStack — the digital infrastructure for agriculture — with no major announcements this period. The Superplum launch of InstaTrace™ (April 11) demonstrates private sector QR-code based farm traceability, showcasing how digital tools are penetrating agricultural supply chains independently of official AgriStack. ⁸

Equinix Data Centre directly mentions DPI platforms — notably Aadhaar, UPI, and ONDC as key drivers of India’s digital economy.

L6: Governance & Grievance

CPGRAMS & DARPG: Digital Governance Steady

No major announcements from DARPG or CPGRAMS this period. The digital grievance redressal system continues to process citizen complaints through thepgportal.gov.in.

L7: Security, Privacy & Trust

MeitY Proposes IT Rules Expansion to Cover Non-Publisher Users Sharing News

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) proposed amendments to India’s IT Rules to include social media users who share “news and current affairs” content under the existing code of ethics applied to registered news publishers. ⁹ Under the proposal, platforms must follow government orders and guidelines to retain safe harbour protection (legal immunity for user content). Critics argue the changes could impact content moderation and user privacy.

CERT-In & Cybersecurity: Global Patch Tuesday Activity

India’s CERT-In continues to monitor threat vectors. Globally, April Patch Tuesday saw critical vulnerabilities including an actively exploited zero-day in Adobe Acrobat Reader (CVE-2026-34621) and Microsoft SharePoint. ¹⁰ Organizations are advised to patch promptly. Cloudflare moved its post-quantum security deadline to 2029 citing advances in quantum algorithms capable of breaking current encryption.

DPDP Act Implementation: Enforcement Phase

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act remains in implementation phase with rules being finalized. The MeitY IT Rules amendments noted above intersect with broader data protection considerations.

Sources