The RBI Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) rose to 493.22 in March 2025, marking a 10.7% increase from 445.50 in March 2024.

Key Findings of RBI Digital Payments Index

• Steady and Consistent Growth: The index has shown uninterrupted growth since its inception in March 2018.
• Strong Performance in Payment Infrastructure: The increase reflects significant improvement in payment infrastructure, adoption, and user engagement across the country, including in semi-urban and rural areas.
• Expansion Beyond Urban Areas: Experts credit the growth to efforts like the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund and RBI-fintech collaboration, which have extended digital services to smaller cities and villages.

What is the Digital Payments Index?

• The RBI Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) is a semi-annual index to measure the extent of digitization of payments across the country.
• Launch: 2018 by RBI
• Parameters of Index:  It tracks performance across five parameters including Payment enablers, Payment infrastructure (demand and supply side), Payment performance, Consumer centricity and Fraud prevention
  • The base year for the index is March 2018, with a value of 100.

Impact of Higher Digital Payments Index

• Accelerated Financial Inclusion: The rise in digital payments signifies deeper financial penetration and improved accessibility for underserved populations, particularly MSMEs and rural communities.
• Support for Digital Credit Models:  Initiatives like the New Digital Credit Assessment Model for MSMEs show a shift toward real-time, data-driven credit evaluation, supporting faster and fairer financing.
• Strengthening of Digital Ecosystem: Highlights India’s evolving, resilient payment ecosystem driven by policy support, fintech innovation, and growing consumer trust.

The RBI’s next update of the Digital Payments Index will cover data up to September 2025, continuing to monitor India’s digital transformation journey.

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