India, July 26 -- Ten years after it transformed the way India pays, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has crossed another milestone. As of June, 55.49 crore users had been onboarded on the UPI platform. According to PIB, annual transaction volume has grown from 2 crore in FY 2016-17 to over 24,162 crore in FY 2025-26. Today, "UPI kardo" is as commonplace at a mall or restaurant as it is in a cab or auto-rickshaw. But digital payments have now seeped into far more unexpected corners of everyday life. From wedding dhols to temple donation counters, here are some quirky places where the 'ting ta-ting ta-ting' of a successful transaction is now frequently heard. The age-old "mere paas cash nahin hai" may no longer work when someone asks you for alms. Individuals seeking alms at traffic signals and street corners can increasingly be spotted carrying QR codes, allowing passers-by to make a contribution with a quick scan. The phenomenon has even travelled online. YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels feature self-styled "online bhikharis", who post videos along with their payment QR codes, giving charitable doomscrollers the option of making a contribution without even leaving their feeds....