’Swag’: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reacts to Bengaluru auto driver’s ’smart’ UPI payment method

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has shared a photo of Bengaluru autorickshaw driver which has gone viral for using an innovative way to do a digital transaction.

“UPI का swag🤘(stylish confidence of using UPI) Payments made super easy,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw , the minister of Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology, in a post on X on Saturday.

Vaishnaw's post showed a man driving an autorickshaw, wearing a smartwatch in his hand. The auto driver is showing the QR code for the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transaction, but in an innovative way. The driver shows the QR code on his watch screen for the customer to scan and make the ride's payment.

This photo of the auto driver showing the UPI QR code on his smartwatch went viral on social media, as netizens found this new way of receiving UPI payments to be very tech-savvy and modern.

India Today reported that the original social media post was from a platform X user, Vishvajeet, who posted this photo praising the auto driver by saying, “Auto anna pulled out the peak Bengaluru move,” according to the news portal, on Sunday.

Social media netizens reacted to this, admiring the auto driver's modern approach. Many users commented on how the city of Bengaluru still continues to set trends, “This is the picture of the new India,” they said.

“This is the magic of Digital India,” said another user, reported the news portal.

UPI in India

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in 2016. The digital payment platform that was created has been revolutionary for India and the fintech landscape, allowing instant transfers between banks.

Some people also voiced concerns about the potential new transaction fee related to the UPI transactions in the country. A recent report from the research agency LocalCircles showed that three out of four people surveyed will stop using UPI as a payment mode if the government implements the new transaction fee on the digital payment method.

NPCI data showed that the UPI transaction volumes witnessed a 44 per cent rise in value in the financial year 2023-24, compared year-on-year. UPI transactions have grown over 36 per cent to ₹66 lakh crore in the first quarter of the current financial year, according to the report, according to the report.