DPI Brief — August 30, 2026 TRAI: India’s Telecom Base Crosses 1.354 Billion, Broadband Hits 1.09 Billion Layer: L7 — Trust (TRAI) TRAI’s monthly subscription data for July 2026, released on August 28, shows India’s total telephone subscriber base reaching 1,354.28 million — a monthly addition of 6.20 million users. Broadband subscriptions crossed the 1.09 billion milestone, growing from 1,087.50 million in June to 1,094.48 million in July (0.64% month-on-month). ...
DPI Deep Dive — Saturday | August 29, 2026 L6 — Governance & Grievance: DARPG, CPGRAMS, eOffice, and the machinery that connects citizens to the state. 1. CPGRAMS Resolution Time Halved: From 28 Days to 14 — But What Does That Actually Mean? This week, News18 reported an exclusive data point that deserves scrutiny: the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) has cut its average grievance resolution time from 28 days in 2019 to 14 days in 2026. The system now handles approximately 22 lakh (2.2 million) grievances annually across central ministries and state/UT governments. 1 ...
DPI Brief — August 29, 2026 L1: Digital India Completes 11 Years; e-Shram Portal Turns Five Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked 11 years of the Digital India programme on August 28, describing it as the cornerstone of a “developed India” — a digital governance framework that has evolved from connectivity rollout to a layered DPI stack. The anniversary coincided with a structurally significant milestone: the e-Shram portal completed five years on August 26. Built by the National Informatics Centre, e-Shram is India’s first Aadhaar-authenticated National Database of Unorganised Workers. It assigns every registered worker a 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN), layering L1 identity infrastructure directly onto social security delivery. The platform covers agricultural labourers, construction workers, domestic workers, gig workers, and street vendors — enabling welfare-scheme convergence and benefit portability across states. Five years in, it underscores how Aadhaar authentication has moved beyond simple KYC into programme administration for India’s vast informal economy. ...
DPI Deep Dive — Friday | August 28, 2026 India’s sectoral digital public infrastructure — the application-layer DPIs built on top of identity and payments rails — had a watershed week. Three stories crystallised a common theme: the race between data collection velocity and institutional readiness to use that data responsibly. 1. AgriStack Crosses 10.31 Crore Farmer IDs — But States Are Being Rapped for Dragging Their Feet On August 22, the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that AgriStack’s Farmer Registry had issued over 10.31 crore Farmer IDs nationwide — up from 8.48 crore in February and 9.20 crore in March. The acceleration is real: roughly 2 crore IDs added in under six months. The government’s target of 11 crore by FY 2026-27 is now within striking distance. ...
DPI Brief — August 28, 2026 UPI Turns 10: Payment Aggregators Demand Seat at the MDR Table Layer: L2 — Payments UPI completed a decade on August 25, and the anniversary arrived with fresh friction over how the upcoming merchant discount rate pie will be sliced. Payment aggregators (PAs) including Razorpay, PayU, and PhonePe are pushing for a fixed, direct share of UPI MDR — bypassing the sponsor banks that currently intermediate their fee flow. The demand, reported by Business Standard on August 27, is likely to meet resistance: PAs are not direct members of the NPCI-run UPI network and sit outside the formal fee-splitting structure that names only issuing banks, acquiring banks, and PSP banks. ...
DPI Deep Dive — Documents and Data Exchange | August 27, 2026 India’s L3 Digital Public Infrastructure — the Documents and Data Exchange layer — had a defining week. DigiLocker crossed 70 crore registered users with over 900 crore issued documents, CKYC 2.0 went live integrating DigiLocker for real-time KYC verification, Passport Verification Records landed on DigiLocker, and a landmark tripartite MoU brought AI into the DPI fold. Here’s what happened and why it matters. ...
DPI Brief — August 27, 2026 TRAI Weighs Callback Functionality on 1600-Series Numbers (L7 — Trust/Regulation) TRAI is actively discussing a proposal with telecom operators to enable callback functionality on 1600-series numbers — the number range used by banks, insurers, and financial institutions for transactional alerts and service calls. Currently, customers cannot call back these numbers, forcing them to navigate IVR menus or visit branches to respond to alerts about fraud, loan approvals, or account issues. ...
DPI Deep Dive — Wednesday | August 26, 2026 India’s L3 Digital Public Infrastructure — the Documents & Data Exchange layer — had a eventful week. DigiLocker user figures were formally tabled in Parliament, IEPFA announced a DigiLocker-and-eSign-powered portal overhaul for investor claims, and Bharat Taxi emerged as the first real-world consumer service to weave DigiLocker, API Setu, and UMANG into a single onboarding flow. Separately, MeitY’s AI vendor empanelment push signals that the data exchange rails themselves are about to get smarter. ...
DPI Brief — August 26, 2026 UPI turned ten yesterday. On August 25, 2016, the National Payments Corporation of India flipped the switch on what would become the world’s largest real-time payment system. A decade later, the numbers are staggering: from 21 banks at launch to 741 live banks as of July 2026, from 1.78 crore annual transactions in FY2016-17 to 24,162 crore in FY2025-26 — a nearly 13,000-fold explosion. July 2026 alone clocked 2,366 crore transactions worth ₹29.88 lakh crore, both monthly records. UPI now accounts for 84% of India’s digital payments by volume and runs in 11 countries. Prime Minister Modi called it a “major turning point in India’s digital payment journey.” The system processes an average of 66 crore transactions daily. From a technical fix for IMPS to a sovereign payment rail, UPI’s trajectory is the single most important DPI scaling story globally. ...
DPI Deep Dive — Monday | August 25, 2026 This week on the Identity & Authentication layer, India’s biometric ID infrastructure hit a critical inflection point. Three major developments between August 18–25 signal that Aadhaar is no longer just a welfare-delivery instrument — it is becoming the mandatory gateway to everyday services, from cooking gas to mobile connectivity. The expansion is rapid, and the privacy questions are mounting. 1. DoT Makes Biometric Verification Mandatory for All SIM Cards The single biggest identity-story this week. On August 21, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) notified the Telecommunications (User Identification) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 750(E)), making live biometric verification — face, fingerprint, or iris — compulsory for obtaining a new SIM, replacing one, updating subscriber details, or even surrendering a connection. The rules took effect the same day. ...