Every day, for the last seven years, Arun Kumar has set up his fruit stall on a busy Mumbai street. It’s not an easy way to make a living, with challenges like the fear of being robbed or having his store dismantled by the local body. However, one aspect of his work has become much smoother over the past four years – instant payments.
Thanks to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Arun no longer has to deal with cash transactions. Customers can simply scan the code and make payments within seconds, making his life and business much more efficient. UPI, launched in 2016, has revolutionized the payment system in India, allowing users to send and receive money, pay bills, and authorize payments in a single step, all for free.
The popularity of UPI has skyrocketed, with India now being the biggest real-time payments market. In May alone, UPI recorded 14 billion transactions, a significant increase from the previous year. However, with great convenience comes great risk, as scammers have found ways to exploit the system.
Shashank Shekhar, founder of the Future Crime Research Foundation, warns that scammers use various tactics to trick people, including obtaining UPI pin numbers and creating fake UPI apps to steal valuable information. Financial fraud involving UPI has been on the rise, with over 95,000 cases reported in the financial year ending April 2023.
Despite the challenges, UPI is being promoted in rural areas to improve access to banking services. Poonam Untwal from Rajasthan runs a guidance center to help people use digital banking, believing that UPI will help develop the local economy. Additionally, UPI is expanding overseas, with retailers in various countries now accepting UPI payments.
While UPI has brought convenience to many like Arun Kumar, the threat of fraud looms large. As the system continues to evolve, efforts are being made to protect users from scammers and ensure a secure digital payment environment for all.
