No, the National Payments Corporation of India is not a government company. It is a not-for-profit organisation registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. Founded in the year 2008 as an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks’ Association under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, NPCI is a vital organisation for managing and promoting retail payment systems in India.

NPCI is owned by a consortium of banks. The ten core promoter banks of the company are State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, HDFC Bank Limited, ICICI Bank Limited, HSBC and Citibank N.A. Even though public sector banks collectively hold majority stakes, NPCI operates as a private non-profit entity.

Here is a quick overview of NPCI

Company History

NPCI was incorporated as a not-for-profit organisation on 19^th December 2008. It was founded by the Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks’ Association to create robust and unified infrastructure for retail payments and settlements in India, under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

NPCI received the Certificate of Commencement of Business in April 2009. In the year 2010, NPCI launched Immediately Payment Service or IMPS, enabling real-time inter-bank fund transfers through internet or mobile banking. In the year 2016, shareholding in NPCI was expanded beyond the 10 initial promoter banks to include 13 additional public sector banks, 15 additional private sector banks, 10 multi-state cooperative banks, 7 regional rural banks and 1 additional foreign bank, taking the total number of member banks to 56.

NPCI launched its iconic Unified Payments Interface or UPI in April 2016. Subsequently, it launched BHIM app, Bharat Bill Payment System and other digital financial transaction platforms and systems.

Current Status

NPCI is the premier umbrella organisation for India’s retail payments infrastructure. Its flagship product, UPI, is the world’s largest real-time payment system by volume. Other core products and services of the company include RuPay credit and debit card scheme, IMPS, FASTag, Bharat Bill Payment System, National Automated Clearing House or NACH, Aadhar Enabled Payment System and BHIM app.

NPCI processes over 650 million transactions daily. The company has internationalised UPI and RuPay through its subsidiary, NPCI International Payments Limited.

Future Outlook

NPCI’s flagship product, UPI, is expected to reach the milestone of 1 billion transactions per day by FY28. Furthermore, UPI is likely to account for 90% of India’s retail digital payments in 2026-27. NPCI is set to roll out next-gen enhancements for faster processing, AI-driven fraud detection, better scalability and real-time analytics.