Daily Brief

DPI Brief — July 23, 2026 L2: UPI Crosses 55.5 Crore Users, ₹314 Lakh Crore in FY26 Transactions The government informed the Lok Sabha that UPI user base reached 55.49 crore as of June 2026, with FY26 processing 24,161.69 crore transactions worth ₹314.23 lakh crore — up 30% in volume and 20.6% in value over FY25 (₹260.56 lakh crore). Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary outlined security measures including risk-based transaction limits by RBI and NPCI. The data was shared in response to a parliamentary question covering state-wise user adoption and fraud mitigation steps. ...

DPI Brief — July 22, 2026 Supreme Court Directs CBSE to Implement APAAR Opt-Out Nationwide The Supreme Court on July 20 said it will direct the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to implement the Orissa High Court’s December 2025 judgment requiring the APAAR (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry) consent form to explicitly offer parents the option to refuse Aadhaar-linking and opt out of the scheme. The Court noted that the Centre did not challenge the Orissa HC order, effectively accepting it. Petitioners had argued that the APAAR scheme effectively compels Aadhaar enrollment for students, raising serious privacy and data protection concerns. While the Court stopped short of striking down the scheme, it directed CBSE to “examine the issues” around parental consent and data safeguards. APAAR — a DPI layer-adjacent identity initiative that creates a permanent academic account linked to Aadhaar — now faces sharpened scrutiny as India’s DPDP Act gradually takes effect. The case is a bellwether for how consent and data minimisation obligations will be enforced on Aadhaar-linked government schemes. (MediaNama, Times of India) ...

DPI Brief — July 21, 2026 UPI MDR Debate Resurfaces as June Transaction Volume Hits 22.7 Billion India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed 22.72 billion transactions worth ₹28.92 lakh crore in June 2026, according to NPCI data released this week. The 731 banks live on UPI continue to drive volume, but the surge has reignited a long-standing debate on sustainability. The government is actively considering reintroducing the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on select UPI transactions — a fee that was zeroed out in January 2020 to accelerate adoption. Under the proposal being discussed, an MDR of below 0.5% would apply only to merchants with annual turnover of approximately ₹1-1.5 crore, and only for transactions exceeding ₹2,000. Person-to-person transfers and small merchants would remain unaffected. Banks and payment service providers have long argued that the zero-MDR regime makes infrastructure costs unsustainable at current volumes, though a final decision from the Centre is pending. ...

DPI Brief — July 20, 2026 UPI MDR May Return for Large Merchants (L2: Payments) The government is actively examining a proposal to reintroduce the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI transactions for large merchants, marking a potential shift in India’s zero-fee digital payments policy after nearly six years. According to a report in the Economic Times, the levy — pegged at below 0.5% — would apply only to merchants with annual turnover of ₹1–1.5 crore or more, and only on transactions above ₹2,000. Person-to-person transfers and payments to small merchants would remain free. ...

DPI Brief — July 19, 2026 NTA Finalises DigiLocker Integration for Old NEET Scorecards (L3 — Documents) The National Testing Agency (NTA) has informed the Chief Information Commission (CIC) that a DigiLocker-based mechanism to retrieve previous years’ NEET scorecards is in its final stages of development. The move came during an RTI hearing filed by a NEET-UG 2020 candidate who needed a certified old scorecard for FMGE eligibility verification via the National Board of Examinations. Currently, NTA destroys older records after 90 days, leaving thousands of medical aspirants without access to their own exam documents. The DigiLocker integration will allow candidates to retrieve authenticated scorecards after proper identity verification — a significant expansion of DigiLocker’s role beyond academic marksheet storage into standardized test documentation. This sets a precedent that could extend to other national-level examinations. ...

DPI Brief — July 17, 2026 India-Indonesia UPI-QRIS Integration Advances Cross-Border Payments (L2) India and Indonesia are accelerating the linkage of their real-time payment systems — UPI and QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard). Announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Jakarta earlier this month, the integration is expected to go live by end-2026, enabling Indian and Indonesian travellers to scan and pay seamlessly across both countries. This builds on ONDC’s earlier partnership agreement with Indonesia’s ION (Indonesia Open Network), extending India’s digital commerce and payments stack into Southeast Asia’s largest economy. UPI is now live or linking in 10 countries outside India, including France, Sri Lanka, and Qatar. The cross-border payments push dovetails with the broader “Digital Border” concept being discussed in policy circles — using DPI as a trade instrument rather than just a domestic utility. ...

DPI Brief — July 16, 2026 1. Kudankulam Nuclear Plant Data Breach — Ransomware Hits Critical Infrastructure Contractor (L7: Trust) Ransomware group World Leaks has posted a massive cache of files on the dark web related to India’s largest nuclear power plant at Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu. The leaked data includes purported blueprints of facility components and supplier details, which the group claims originated from Reliance Group — a contractor at the plant. Reliance confirmed a “partial breach” of data hosted on a server operated by Yotta, an Indian data centre service provider, and stated the government has been informed. ...

DPI Brief — July 15, 2026 1. CCI Penalises HP ₹126.87 Crore for Bid-Rigging on GeM Platform (L4 — Commerce) The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has found HP India guilty of rigging bids floated on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), levying a penalty of ₹126.87 crore on the company and a combined ₹1.22 crore on reseller firms. The order marks one of the largest anti-competitive enforcement actions on India’s digital public procurement platform. The CCI’s investigation revealed that HP manipulated the bidding process through its network of resellers, undermining the competitive neutrality that GeM is designed to ensure. This development underscores the growing regulatory scrutiny around digital commerce infrastructure and sends a strong signal to all vendors participating on government procurement platforms. For GeM, which has processed over ₹3 lakh crore in transactions since its inception, maintaining platform integrity is critical as it scales to cover more categories and smaller suppliers. ...

DPI Brief — July 14, 2026 Truecaller vs TRAI: Anti-Spam Framework Clashes with Caller ID Ecosystem (L7 – Trust/TRAI) Truecaller’s CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala publicly challenged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) over its directive preventing caller identification apps from labelling calls from the designated 1400 (telemarketing) and 1600 (transactional/service) number series as spam. TRAI has reportedly sought powers under the Information Technology Act to take action against caller ID platforms like Truecaller, Hiya, and Whoscall for flagging these numbers. Truecaller, which counts India as its largest market with 273 million users, argues that the restriction has enabled abuse of those number series and eroded trust in legitimate business calls. The company also questioned whether TRAI has jurisdiction over internet-based call management platforms, suggesting oversight should rest with MeitY instead. The standoff pits India’s anti-spam regulatory framework against the consumer demand for scam detection tools — a tension with no clean resolution in sight. 1 2 ...

DPI Brief — July 12, 2026 1. UPI-New Zealand Payment Linkage Announced During PM Modi’s Historic Visit (L2: Payments) Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India and New Zealand will work towards integrating UPI with New Zealand’s fast-payment system, during his landmark two-day state visit to Auckland on July 10-11 — the first by an Indian Prime Minister in four decades. The two nations elevated their bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership and signed 18 MoUs spanning trade, defence, digital payments, education, science, agriculture and maritime cooperation. Once implemented, UPI integration will enable faster, secure and seamless cross-border digital payments for businesses, tourists and the Indian diaspora in New Zealand. India has now struck payment linkage agreements with over ten countries, with Greece becoming the latest to enable UPI in June 2026. The announcement reinforces India’s growing ambition to make UPI the global default for real-time payments. ...