BJP Attacks Congress Over Past UPI Remarks as Platform Marks 10 Years
Highlighting the expansion of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as it completed 10 years of its 2016 rollout, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday attacked the Congress during a press conference in New Delhi, criticising earlier remarks made by opposition leaders against the digital payment system.
Addressing reporters at the party headquarters, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said former finance minister P Chidambaram had previously referred to UPI as a "big blunder" during a discussion in Parliament and claimed it would affect the economy. Patra noted that Chidambaram had argued poor individuals, rural residents, and street vendors would be unable to navigate the digital payment platform.
Responding to those past statements, Patra said vegetable vendors and small-time workers across the country have successfully adopted digital payments, noting that digital transaction facilities are now commonplace among small vendors.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also shared Chidambaram's earlier speech on social media platform X, writing, "10 years of proving them wrong."
The Congress responded to the BJP's claims by asserting that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation for India's digital payments infrastructure. Congress MP Pawan Khera dismissed the BJP's remarks, stating that credit belonged to the groundwork laid earlier.
Presenting data on the growth of UPI, Patra stated that the platform's initial transaction volume stood at 1.78 crore in the 2016-17 financial year, with a transaction value of Rs 0.07 lakh crore. By 2025-26, annual transaction volume grew to 24,162 crore transactions, representing a 13,000-fold increase, while total transaction value reached Rs 314 lakh crore, marking a 4,000-fold increase.
Patra added that UPI has become the world's largest real-time digital payment system and is currently available in 11 countries. The number of participating banks on the interface has also grown from 44 in 2016-17 to 703.
