DPI Brief — August 15, 2026

UPI Hits Record 23.66 Billion Monthly Transactions in July

India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed 23.66 billion transactions worth ₹29.88 lakh crore in July 2026, registering a new all-time high according to NPCI data released this week. Volume grew 4.1% month-on-month from June’s 22.72 billion, while average daily transactions touched approximately 763 million. On a year-on-year basis, volumes grew 22%.

The concentration dynamics remain noteworthy: the top three apps — PhonePe (48.38% volume share), Google Pay (~37%), and Paytm — together processed 93% of all UPI transactions in July. NPCI has been actively pushing new product lines — including UPI Tap & Pay, Hello UPI (conversational payments), and UPI Lite X for feature phones — to diversify usage patterns and chase its ambitious 100 billion monthly transaction target.

On the international front, RBI Governor designating UPI as the proposed cross-border standard for BRICS payments, coupled with India advancing technical discussions on a UPI-Bizum linkage with Spain, signals accelerating global adoption of India’s payments rail.

Sources: NPCI Statistics, Hindu Business Line, Tech Times

Rajasthan Sets Up AgriStack Commissionerate; 10.33 Crore Farmer IDs Created Nationally

Rajasthan has announced the establishment of a dedicated AgriStack Commissionerate to expand digital farmer services statewide — a significant institutional move for the Digital Agriculture Mission. The state has already registered 87.44 lakh farmers under the Farmer Registry, and an AgriStack-based fertilizer sale framework is being prepared for statewide rollout. The state government has directed that the Farmer Registry be linked with all farmer-focused schemes, including PM-KISAN, and that remaining beneficiaries be enrolled with Farmer IDs.

Nationally, over 10.33 crore Farmer IDs have been created as of August 6, 2026, per PIB data. The Digital Crop Survey is also progressing across districts, with ground-level implementation reviews being conducted in regions like Ladakh’s Nubra district. AgriStack’s architecture — linking farmer identity, land records, crop data, and scheme benefits into a unified digital profile — is steadily becoming the backbone for subsidy distribution, crop insurance, and credit access.

Sources: ET Government, PIB

NeGD Launches “DPDP Decoded” Podcast; CERT-In Stresses Cyber Resilience

The National e-Governance Division (NeGD), under the Ministry of Electronics and IT, has launched a new podcast series called “DPDP Decoded” aimed at building public awareness around India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023. The series covers consent management, data handling obligations, and practical compliance guidance — a welcome public-education initiative as the enforcement deadline of May 13, 2027 approaches. The DPDP Rules 2025 have partially come into force, with provisions for the Data Protection Board and Consent Managers already operational.

Separately, on the cybersecurity front, the government reiterated its commitment to an “open, safe, trusted, and accountable” cyberspace. CERT-In, designated as the national agency under Section 70B of the IT Act, continues to track and respond to a rising volume of cyber incidents. At the Bharatiya Vyapar Mahotsav 2026, CERT-In officials highlighted the particular vulnerability of MSMEs to cyberattacks and emphasised the agency’s role in issuing advisories, training, and tailored handbooks for small businesses.

Sources: Digital India / NeGD, PIB

DigiLocker Crosses 72 Crore Users; Independence Day DPI Stocktake

As India celebrated its 80th Independence Day, DigiLocker has crossed 72.43 crore registered users, hosting over 775 crore digital documents. The platform — now integrated with EPFO for provident fund document verification, and serving as the document layer for everything from driving licences to university degrees — continues to expand its issuing organization base beyond 2,500 entities. UMANG, the government services access platform, has reached 11.66 crore users as of July 2026.

The Independence Day data dump from across government sources also highlighted that 138.34 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated to date, with India’s digital infrastructure powering the world’s largest real-time payment system handling nearly 49% of global real-time payment volume.

Sources: PIB / DD News, HinduPost