Bharat Interface for Money-Unified Payments Interface (BHIM-UPI) has emerged as the preferred payment mode of the citizens and has achieved a record of 452.75 crore digital payment transactions with the value of Rs 8.27 lakh crore till 28 February in the current financial year, the Ministry of Electronics & IT said on Wednesday.
"Digital payments transactions have been steadily increasing over last few years, as a part of Government of India's strategy to digitise the financial sector and economy," the ministry said in a statement.
Over the past four years, digital payment transactions have grown multi-fold from 3,134 crore in FY 2018-19 to 5,554 crore in FY 2020-21. During the current financial year till 28th February, the total number of 7422 crore digital transactions have been recorded.
COVID-19 pandemic has established that digital payments enable access to healthcare as well through contactless payment modes like BHIM-UPI QR code in consonance with the "new normal" of social distancing, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Electronics & IT noted that the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have undertaken several steps to ensure safety and security of digital payments.
One of the key safety and security measures for digital payments is multi-factor authentication. The key objectives of multi-factor authentication are to protect the confidentiality of payment data as well as enhance confidence in digital payment by combating various cyber-attack mechanisms, like phishing, keylogging, spyware/ malware and other internet-based frauds targeted at REs and their customers.
"A strong grievance redressal mechanism has been set up by the Government and RBI to address the grievances related to cyber financial frauds of the individuals, in a time-bound manner," the ministry said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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