New Delhi, Sept. 1 -- India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has completed 10 years of operations and has been a phenomenal success. It is now an integral part of our financial ecosystem and used by individuals irrespective of income class for making payments. The system has matured enough for the regulator to talk about making someone pay for its use.

A question often asked is this: If even a Rs.10 transaction with a hawker can be done using UPI, does it mean regular paper currency is becoming redundant?

Data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) throws up interesting trends. The currency in circulation was around Rs.42.46 trillion in August and is increasing at a good pace. In fact, 2025-26 recorded an increase of Rs.4.38 trillion, t...