Deep Dive

DPI Deep Dive — Wednesday | August 19, 2026 Theme: L3 — Documents & Data Exchange (DigiLocker, API Setu, eSign) This week, India’s documents and data exchange layer saw three significant developments: Parliament was informed of DigiLocker crossing 72 crore users, SEBI proposed allowing Aadhaar e-sign for overseas investor KYC, and Bharat Taxi became the first non-government platform to formally integrate with DigiLocker, UMANG, and API Setu under a NeGD MoU. ...

DPI Deep Dive — Tuesday | August 18, 2026 This week on the L2 Payments & Financial Rails layer, the single biggest story is the Parliament’s passage of the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — which, for the first time since January 2020, cracks open the legal door to a Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI and RuPay debit card transactions. That one legislative move has triggered a cascade of consequences: a framing debate about who bears the cost of free payments, early behavioural data suggesting consumers are drifting back to cash, NPCI’s record July transaction numbers that simultaneously prove UPI’s dominance and expose its growth deceleration, and an international expansion drive that is using UPI as a diplomatic instrument. Here are the five stories that defined this week. ...

DPI Deep Dive — Sunday | August 17, 2026 India’s security, privacy, and trust layer — the bedrock on which all other DPI layers rest — had a turbulent week. From a sharp CERT-In advisory on sophisticated M365 phishing to the MeitY Secretary drawing a firm line on DPDP compliance deadlines, and a new regulatory framework for power-sector cybersecurity, the signals are clear: the trust infrastructure is under sustained pressure and the regulatory response is accelerating. ...

DPI Deep Dive — Sunday | August 16, 2026 Layer L7: Security, Privacy & Trust — CERT-In, DPDP Act, TRAI, and the institutions guarding India’s digital perimeter. 1. RBI and SEBI Ratchet Up Cyber Preparedness as Banking Fraud Crosses ₹48,000 Crore in FY26 The Reserve Bank of India’s annual report for FY26 has laid bare an uncomfortable truth: while the number of bank frauds fell from 23,722 in FY25 to 10,114 in FY26, the total amount involved surged 46.4% to ₹48,021 crore. Fewer incidents, vastly more damage per case — the signature of AI-amplified financial crime. ...

DPI Deep Dive — Saturday | August 15, 2026 L6: Governance & Grievance — DARPG, CPGRAMS, eOffice India’s Governance & Grievance layer — anchored by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) and its flagship Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) — had a significant week. From parliamentary disclosures on grievance volumes to the maturation of AI-powered grievance registration and the growing international export of India’s governance stack, this layer is quietly becoming one of the most consequential pieces of India’s DPI architecture. ...

DPI Deep Dive — Friday | August 14, 2026 Layer 5: Sectoral Infrastructure — ABHA, AgriStack, eCourts India’s sectoral Digital Public Infrastructure is having a blockbuster week. Three parallel systems — health IDs, farmer registries, and digital courts — are scaling at a pace that few predicted even 18 months ago. This deep dive examines the most significant developments across ABHA, AgriStack, and eCourts from August 7–14, 2026. 1. ABHA Crosses 96 Crore: India’s Health ID Enters the Real Economy On August 13, the government released fresh data on the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) that puts ABHA — the 14-digit health identity number — at 96.43 crore registrations as of August 12, 2026. That is not the headline number, though. What matters more is the 110 crore health records now linked to ABHA, alongside 5.47 lakh registered health facilities and 10.50 lakh healthcare professionals on the platform. 1 ...

DPI Deep Dive — Wednesday | August 12, 2026 Wednesday marks L3: Documents & Data Exchange in our seven-layer DPI rotation — the layer that powers DigiLocker, API Setu, eSign, and the entire digital document infrastructure that sits between identity (L1) and payments (L2). This week, L3 delivered one of the most significant cross-border DPI expansions in recent memory: DigiLocker going global for international student verification. 1. DigiLocker Goes Global: AAERI Verify Launches for Australian University Admissions The single biggest L3 story this week is the launch of AAERI Verify — a digital platform that integrates DigiLocker to enable instant, source-verified document checks for Indian students applying to Australian universities. Unveiled on August 7 at the AAERI Annual Convention in New Delhi, the platform is a collaboration between the National e-Governance Division (NeGD) under MeitY and the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI). ...

DPI Deep Dive — Tuesday | August 11, 2026 L2 — Payments & Financial Rails (NPCI, UPI, RuPay) 1. The Great UPI MDR Debate: Parliament Opens the Door to Merchant Fees The single biggest story in India’s payments ecosystem this week is the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which the Lok Sabha passed on August 6. The bill amends Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 — removing the legal provision that prevented banks and payment service providers from charging a Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI transactions. ...

DPI Deep Dive — Monday | August 10, 2026 India’s identity infrastructure had a turbulent week. From a multi-district Aadhaar fraud racket busted in Uttar Pradesh to NPCI’s new OTP mandate for high-value AePS withdrawals, and the Lok Sabha opening the door to UPI merchant fees — the L1 Identity & Authentication layer saw developments that cut across security, policy, and the economics of digital ID itself. Here are the five stories that mattered. ...

DPI Deep Dive — Sunday | August 09, 2026 Layer L7: Security, Privacy & Trust — CERT-In, DPDP Act, TRAI, I4C, and the institutional framework safeguarding India’s digital public infrastructure. 1. e-Zero FIR Goes National: PRAGATI 52 Orders All-State Rollout After Digital Arrest Scams The 52nd PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister on June 24, delivered the most consequential cybersecurity-governance directive of 2026: all state governments must immediately implement the e-Zero FIR system developed by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C). ...