NPCI, the organisation that runs UPI and RuPay, ended FY26 with a bigger top line and a smaller surplus. Its revenue from operations rose 22% to Rs 4,240 crore in the year ended March 2026, from Rs 3,481 crore in FY25. Profit, which the company reports as surplus because it works as a not for profit, fell 32% during the same period.
Payments bring in 88% of revenue
Payment services remained the core of the business, contributing 88% of operating revenue. Income from this segment rose 16% to Rs 3,736 crore from Rs 3,212 crore a year earlier. The rest came from certification, network and implementation charges, membership fees, hologram charges and card related fees.
NPCI also earned Rs 633 crore from non operating sources, which lifted total income to Rs 4,873 crore. That bucket included liabilities written back, interest on income tax refunds, service guarantee mechanism receipts and miscellaneous income.
Read More: Zomato And Swiggy Match Meituan On Unit Economics Despite A 22X Smaller Market
Cashbacks and marketing ate into the surplus
Marketing and product incentives stayed the single largest cost centre, accounting for over 47% of total expenditure. These costs rose 27% to Rs 1,420 crore from Rs 1,116 crore, driven by higher spending on product incentives and cashbacks. The bill also covered payments to banks for RuPay cards, advertising and publicity campaigns, business to business activities and sponsorships.
Read More: Graph AI Raises $13.3 Mn Series A To Automate Drug Safety Work
Employee benefit expenses rose over 22% to Rs 534 crore, while depreciation and amortisation climbed 40% to Rs 408 crore. Operating expenses grew 39% to Rs 291 crore from Rs 210 crore, pushed by higher annual maintenance charges for network and IT equipment and higher network costs. The company attributed the fall in surplus to higher deferred tax and the rise in marketing expenses. The financial statements were accessed from its own website.
A not for profit with real scale
Established in 2008 as an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India and the Indian Banks Association, NPCI is the umbrella organisation for retail payment and settlement systems in the country. It operates UPI, IMPS, RuPay, BHIM, NACH, AePS, FASTag and BBPS, which together handle a large share of the country’s everyday payments.
Why it matters
NPCI’s accounts read like a public utility statement rather than a startup balance sheet, and that is the point. It is not trying to maximise profit. It is trying to make digital payments so cheap and so widespread that cash stops being the default. Spending more on cashbacks and bank incentives while the surplus shrinks is a choice, and it is the same choice that has taken UPI to the scale it enjoys today. The number to watch in FY27 is not the surplus. It is whether that spending keeps pulling more of India’s payments away from cash and towards the phone.