The rapid expansion of digital payments has transformed the way consumers make payments and conduct everyday economic transactions in India. Among the various digital payment mechanisms, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has emerged as a major component of India's digital payment ecosystem because of its convenience, speed, interoperability, 24-hour availability, and widespread merchant acceptance. The increasing use of UPI has also generated interest in understanding whether changes in payment methods are associated with changes in consumer spending behaviour.

The present study examines UPI usage and consumer spending behaviour through a descriptive empirical approach. The study is primarily based on secondary data obtained from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), published research studies and relevant survey evidence.

The findings indicate that UPI has become a dominant component of India's retail digital payment ecosystem. According to the RBI, UPI accounted for 79.6% of retail payment volume in 2023–24, while UPI transaction volume increased from 539 crore in 2018–19 to 13,113 crore in 2023–24. NPCI data further show that UPI processed 20,008.31 million transactions in August 2025 ^[2], with a total transaction value of approximately ₹24.85 lakh crore. Person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions constituted a substantial part of this activity.