Mumbai, Dec 18: The unified payments interface (UPI) transaction volumes rose 33.5 per cent (year-on-year) to 59.33 billion transactions in the July-September period, as transaction value grew 21 per cent to Rs 74.84 lakh crore, a report showed on Thursday.

India reached 709 million active UPI QRs, marking a 21 per cent increase since July 2024. Dense QR acceptance across kiranas, pharmacies, transport hubs, and rural markets has made scan-and-pay the default payment mode nationwide, according to the report by Worldline India.

Person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions continued to outpace person-to-person (P2P), reflecting UPI’s dominance in everyday retail payments.

P2M transactions were up 35 per cent to 37.46 billion transactions while P2P transactions rose 29 per cent to 21.65 billion transactions, the report said.

The third quarter (Q3 2025) further reinforced India’s position as the world’s most dynamic real-time payments economy — where every scan, tap, and click is reshaping consumer and merchant behaviour.

The average ticket size declined to Rs 1,262 (from Rs 1,363), highlighting increased usage for micro-transactions such as mobility, food, healthcare essentials, and hyperlocal commerce.

Point of sale (PoS) terminals grew 35 per cent to 12.12 million (July 2024–July 2025). Bharat QR stood at 6.10 million, witnessing marginal decline amid the shift toward UPI QR dominance.

Private banks led acceptance deployment, accounting for 84 per cent market share. While credit card issuance grew by 8 per cent (on-year) to 113.39 million cards, debit cards reached 1.02 billion and prepaid cards stood at 470.1 million.

Credit card transactions grew 26 per cent to 1.45 billion, with transaction value at Rs 6.07 lakh crore. Debit card transactions declined 22 per cent, reflecting migration of low-ticket spends to UPI, the report showed.

Mobile and tap-based payments continued to accelerate, with contactless adoption gaining momentum across metros, mobility services, and quick-service retail.

“The outlook for Q4 2025 and early 2026 points to accelerated innovation and deeper ecosystem integration. Interoperable QR is expected to move from pilot phases to everyday usage across mobility, healthcare, fuel stations, and public utilities—delivering a unified scan-and-pay experience,” the report mentioned.

Bhiwandi: Trade unions and workers’ organisations staged a strong protest in Bhiwandi against the four labour codes introduced by the Centre and implemented by the state government, terming them “anti-worker” and a direct attack on hard-earned labour rights.

The protest was organised at late Anand Dighe Chowk under the leadership of Comrade Sunil Chavan, president of the CITU-affiliated Lal Bavta Powerloom Warper and Unorganised Workers’ Organisation. Workers from multiple sectors, including powerloom, domestic work and the beedi industry, participated in large numbers, giving the agitation a strong grassroots character.

The protesters demanded the immediate withdrawal of the four labour codes, under which 29 existing labour laws have been repealed and consolidated. According to union leaders, these changes dilute statutory safeguards that Indian workers secured after decades of struggle.

Addressing the gathering, Comrade Sunil Chavan warned that the new labour framework would severely weaken job security, collective bargaining rights and social protection for workers. “These labour codes will push workers into extremely vulnerable conditions, virtually reducing them to bonded labour,” he said, alleging that the reforms overwhelmingly favour employers at the cost of workers’ dignity and livelihood.

Union leaders said that the labour codes undermine provisions related to minimum wages, working hours, industrial dispute resolution and social security, particularly affecting unorganised sector workers who already lack adequate legal protection.

Chavan pointed out that central trade unions across the country are opposing the labour codes and have repeatedly demanded that the government hold meaningful consultations with workers’ representatives before implementing such sweeping reforms.

The protest saw participation from senior labour activists including Anil Tyagi, Kamla Gattu, Mumtaz Sheikh, Suryabhan Yadav, Premchand Saroj, Sadanand Bharti, Pramod Yadav and Suresh Sachan. A significant number of women workers from the powerloom sector, domestic work and the beedi industry were also present, highlighting the gendered impact of the labour reforms.

The demonstrators raised slogans against both the Centre and the state government, accusing them of ignoring workers’ voices and prioritising corporate interests. They warned that if the labour codes are not withdrawn, trade unions would intensify their agitation through larger protests and strikes in the coming days.

The protest in Bhiwandi reflects growing unrest among industrial and unorganised sector workers across Maharashtra, as labour groups continue to mobilise against reforms they believe threaten the very foundation of workers’ rights and social justice.

New Delhi, Dec 17: Acting on the orders of its special Court at Patna, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has attached two immovable properties of an accused in a transnational human trafficking and cyber frauds case, the agency said on Wednesday.

The properties involved one flat in Thane, Maharashtra, and a piece of land in Siwan, Bihar.

According to the NIA, “Both had been purchased by the wanted accused Anand Kumar Singh in his wife’s name using money earned illegally from human trafficking activities. The accused, a Cambodia-based Indian national, was involved in trafficking Indian youth to Cambodia for forced criminal cyber frauds, NIA investigations had revealed.”

The special Court of NIA at Patna had established the two properties to be proceeds of crime and had, on December 10, ordered their attachment under section 107 of BNSS. It had further directed that the money obtained after their auction be forfeited.

As per NIA’s investigation, the accused was part of a syndicate engaged in luring vulnerable youth from India with false promises of well-paying legitimate jobs in foreign countries.

Once the victims reached the foreign land, their passports were seized by the syndicate, and they were sold to scam companies. Refusal to work for these companies led to mental and physical torture, NIA found during the investigation.

Efforts are in progress to unearth and dismantle the complete transnational nexus involving the syndicate.

The anti-terror agency last month filed a chargesheet against 10 accused in a Bhubaneswar court in connection with the trafficking of a minor Bangladeshi girl from across the eastern border into Odisha.

The set of charges filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), before a Special Court, charged the accused with luring the girl with the promise of employment and then pushing her into immoral trafficking to make money.

The accused had taken advantage of her family’s poor financial condition to execute the trafficking operation, the NIA found during the investigation, which exposed a major human trafficking network.