UPI in May: Broker, digital gold transaction value fall
15 Jun 2026, 05:49 PMThe total value of merchant category-wise purchases through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) increased 11.1% month-on-month to Rs 9.32 lakh crore in May 2026 across 14,984.15 million transactions.
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The total value of merchant category-wise purchases through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) increased 11.1% month-on-month to Rs 9.32 lakh crore in May 2026 across 14,984.15 million transactions, compared to Rs 8.39 lakh crore through 14,096.97 million transactions in April 2026.
Groceries and supermarkets, the largest merchant category by transaction volume, recorded 3,872.78 million transactions worth Rs 85,243.71 crore in May, compared to 3,722.20 million transactions worth Rs 80,449.20 crore in April, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
However, transactions at securities brokers and dealers witnessed a decline during the month. The category recorded 69.85 million transactions worth Rs 56,640.33 crore in May, down from 71.30 million transactions worth Rs 70,266.74 crore in April. The value of transactions fell 19.39% month-on-month.
Similarly, the value of digital gold purchases fell 1.94% to Rs 2,450.63 crore in May from Rs 2,499.02 crore in April even as its volume ticked up to 249.08 million transactions from 245.22 million.
The other categories that saw a fall in the value are men's, women's and childern's uniforms; family clothing shops; and government services.
Meanwhile, debt collection agencies processed 192.35 million transactions valued at Rs 66,317.06 crore during May, up from 181.52 million transactions worth Rs 61,746.39 crore in the previous month.
Among other categories fast food restaurants recorded 1,503.82 million transactions worth Rs 18,705.24 crore in May, while eating places and restaurants processed 1,291.12 million transactions valued at Rs 22,860.66 crore.
Service stations registered 708.67 million transactions worth Rs 48,547.39 crore in May, up from 658.64 million transactions worth Rs 42,571.65 crore in April. Telecommunication services logged 885.33 million transactions valued at Rs 23,996.44 crore, while utilities recorded 145.69 million transactions worth Rs 22,195.86 crore.
Online marketplaces saw transaction volume increasing to 150.09 million and value rising to Rs 8,763.11 crore from 137.69 million transactions worth Rs 7,740.27 crore in April.
Men's and women's clothing shops witnessed one of the sharpest increases in transaction volume, rising 30.1% to 128.61 million transactions worth Rs 13,151.28 crore. In contrast, family clothing shops recorded 84.62 million transactions worth Rs 7,674.15 crore, down from 86.69 million transactions worth Rs 8,281.63 crore in April.
Drug stores and pharmacies processed 295.93 million transactions valued at Rs 12,378.02 crore during the month. Electronics shops recorded 88.43 million transactions worth Rs 13,823.09 crore, while government services processed 141.98 million transactions valued at Rs 9,955.95 crore.
Categories that posted double-digit growth in value included bakeries, which registered 372.25 million transactions worth Rs 5,354.13 crore, and package shops (beer, wine and liquor) at 221.75 million transactions worth Rs 9,745.40 crore.
Dairies saw 265.48 million transactions valued at Rs 6,157.64 crore during the month.
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