Telangana, Andhra Pradesh top in digital transactions

Hyderabad: Digital transactions in India hit 1.1 billion in January but lag way behind the government’s target of 26 billion by this fiscal end (2017-18). This trend is being attributed to people switching back to cash transactions. The two Telugu states top the country in digital transactions.

While 110 crore digital transactions took place in the country in January, Telangana state alone recorded 7.78 crore, which amounts to 2,210 digital transactions for every 1,000 persons, the highest in the country. This is closely followed by Andhra Pradesh, at 1,839 digital transactions for every 1,000 persons, the second highest in the country. Other states which recorded higher digital transactions for every 1,000 persons were Himachal Pradesh (1,532) and Gujarat (1,053. The country-wide average digital transactions for every 1,000 persons was recorded at 23,872.

According to provisional data released by the Reserve Bank of India, digital payment transactions increased in volume by 4.73 per cent to 1.11 billion in January from 1.06 billion in December. However, only 14.8 billion digital transactions were undertaken across India from 1 April 2017 to January 2018. This is much below the government’s stated goal of hitting 25 billion digital transactions by this fiscal-end (March 31). To promote digital transactions, the Centre announced in December 2017 that it will bear the MDR (Merchant Discount Rate) charges on transactions up to Rs 2,000 made through debit cards, BHIM UPI or Aadhaar-enabled payment systems.