NPCI posts Rs 2,876 Cr revenue and Rs 1,134 Cr profits in FY24

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which oversees a wide range of payment services including IMPS, UPI, BHIM, NACH, RuPay, AePs, FASTag, and BBPS, has maintained strong growth momentum, with a 39% increase in scale in FY24. Notably, the company's bottom line also improved by 37% in the same period.

NPCI’s revenue from operations spiked to Rs 2,876 crore in FY24 from Rs 2,065 crore in FY23, its consolidated annual financial statements accessed by Entrakr from its website show.

Established in 2008 as a joint venture with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Bank’s Association that manages India’s retail payment and settlement system. Since NPCI is a non-profit organization (NPO), it has termed profit as surplus.

Income from payment services accounted for 94% of the overall revenue which increased by 36.6% to Rs 2,693 crore in FY24 from Rs 1,972 crore in FY23. Its certification, network, implementation, membership fees, hologram charges, and card fees were other sources of operating revenue for NPCI in the last fiscal year.

The firm also earned Rs 403 crore mainly from interest on deposits and government bonds, tallying its overall income to Rs 3,279 crore in FY24 as compared to Rs 2,311 crore in FY23.

For the National Payments Corporation of India, marketing and products cashback formed 45% of the overall expenditure which increased 75.7% to Rs 782 crore in FY24. These expenses also include upfront incentives paid to banks for RuPay cards and various cash-back campaigns to promote digital transactions, campaigns, and sponsorships.

The company's overall expenditure surged by 47.08%, rising to Rs 1,740 crore in FY24 from Rs 1,183 crore in FY23, driven by increased spending on employee benefits, network and technology, data centers, professional training, and other overheads.

FY23-FY24

	FY23	FY24
EBITDA Margin	56%	54%
Expense/₹ of Op Revenue	₹0.57	₹0.61
ROCE	23%	24.6%

The significant growth and controlled expenditure helped NPCI to post a 37% increase in surplus to Rs 1,134 crore in FY24 as compared to Rs 828 crore in FY23. Its ROCE and EBITDA stood at Rs 24.6% and 54% respectively. On a unit level, it spent Rs 0.61 to earn a rupee in FY24.

The impressive metrics point to both the well oiled system the NPCI is, and the monopoly advantages it has overseeing the largest payments system by volume in the country. Most stakeholders will agree that it is probably time for the RBI, through NPCI, to loosen the tight controls it has kept on UPI payment fees, which remains a cost for most institutions using it even today. The so called data mining of user data has certainly not proven to be as lucrative as projected, certainly not for lack of trying. With even government owned organisations like IRCTC chafing about the low fees it earns on UPI payments, we believe it is only a matter of time before the relative affluence of NPCI vis a vis the thin margins of other stakeholders in the payments ecosystem seeks a natural correction of sorts. Through the RBI or a gentle nudge from the Finance ministry.