How many PoS terminals and QR codes are there in India?

History

RBI counts card machines (PoS terminals) and QR codes deployed by merchants, in lakh (a lakh is a hundred thousand; a crore is ten million). The UPI QR line counts static codes only.

The figures side by side

How we got this number

1. Read 'Number of PoS Terminals', 'Bharat QR' and 'UPI QR' in Part III (Payment Infrastructures) of RBI's Payment System Indicators for September 2026: 104.19 lakh, 53.40 lakh and 8,855.05 lakh.
2. Divide by a hundred to turn lakh into crore: 104.19 lakh is about 1.04 crore PoS terminals and 8,855.05 lakh is about 88.55 crore UPI QR codes.
3. Put the PoS count next to earlier months from RBI's monthly pages: 117.69 lakh at the end of March, 114.47 in April, 115.25 in May, 99.22 in June, 100.28 in July and 102.08 in August 2026.

What this number does not tell you

• The PoS count fell from 117.69 lakh at the end of March 2026 to 99.22 lakh in June 2026 and has risen each month since. RBI's page does not say why, so read the older months with care.
• The UPI QR line counts static QR codes only. A merchant can have more than one code.
• RBI marks the data provisional. The September 2026 data was on RBI's site by 31 October 2026.

Sources

1. RBI, Payment System Indicators, September 2026 (Part III, payment infrastructures), September 2026 data; RBI page shows "Website last updated date: Oct 31, 2026" — columns: As on March 2026, September 2025, August 2026, September 2026 (lakh)PART III - Payment Infrastructures (lakh) | As on March 2026 | 2025 September | 2026 | 2026 August | September 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 Payment System Infrastructures 1 Number of Cards | 11632.02 | 11383.16 | 11608.32 | 11650.16 1.1 Credit Cards | 1186.34 | 1135.07 | 1240.04 | 1253.15 1.2 Debit Cards | 10445.69 | 10248.09 | 10368.29 | 10397.01 2 Number of PPIs @ | 22992.54 | 16180.40 | 23320.35 | 23635.71 2.1 Wallets @ | 18253.41 | 11478.95 | 18389.26 | 18660.03 2.2 Cards @ | 4739.13 | 4701.45 | 4931.09 | 4975.68 3 Number of ATMs and CRMs | 2.54 | 2.49 | 2.53 | 2.52 3.1 Bank owned ATMs$ and CRMs# | 2.16 | 2.12 | 2.17 | 2.17 3.2 White Label ATMs $ | 0.38 | 0.37 | 0.36 | 0.36 4 Number of Micro ATMs @ | 13.90 | 14.60 | 13.26 | 13.33 5 Number of PoS Terminals | 117.69 | 121.16 | 102.08 | 104.19 6 Bharat QR @ | 56.33 | 60.71 | 53.30 | 53.40 7 UPI QR * | 7612.17 | 7089.75 | 8130.32 | 8855.05
2. RBI, Payment System Indicators, August 2026 (PoS terminals row), August 2026 data; RBI page shows "Website last updated date: Oct 31, 2026" — columns: As on March 2026, the same month in 2025, the previous month, this month (lakh)5 Number of PoS Terminals | 117.69 | 119.65 | 100.28 | 102.08
3. RBI, Payment System Indicators, July 2026 (PoS terminals row), July 2026 data; RBI page shows "Website last updated date: Oct 31, 2026" — columns: As on March 2026, the same month in 2025, the previous month, this month (lakh)5 Number of PoS Terminals | 117.69 | 119.13 | 99.22 | 100.28
4. RBI, Payment System Indicators, June 2026 (PoS terminals row), June 2026 data; RBI page shows "Website last updated date: Oct 31, 2026" — columns: As on March 2026, the same month in 2025, the previous month, this month (lakh)5 Number of PoS Terminals | 117.69 | 117.83 | 115.25 | 99.22
5. RBI, Payment System Indicators, May 2026 (PoS terminals row), May 2026 data; RBI page shows "Website last updated date: Oct 31, 2026" — columns: As on March 2026, the same month in 2025, the previous month, this month (lakh)5 Number of PoS Terminals | 117.69 | 115.81 | 114.47 | 115.25
6. RBI, Payment System Indicators, April 2026 (PoS terminals row), April 2026 data; RBI page shows "Website last updated date: Oct 31, 2026" — columns: As on March 2026, the same month in 2025, the previous month, this month (lakh)5 Number of PoS Terminals | 117.69 | 112.83 | 117.69 | 114.47
7. RBI, Payment System Indicators, March 2026 (PoS terminals row), March 2026 data; RBI page shows "Website last updated date: Oct 31, 2026" — columns: As on March 2026, the same month in 2025, the previous month, this month (lakh)5 Number of PoS Terminals | 117.69 | 110.98 | 116.65 | 117.69

Worked out by us: 1.04 (104.19 lakh (RBI, September 2026) divided by a hundred, to give crore); 88.55 (8,855.05 lakh UPI QR codes (RBI, September 2026) divided by a hundred, to give crore).

Questions people ask

How many PoS terminals are there in India?

104.19 lakh (about 1.04 crore) at the end of September 2026, per RBI.

How many UPI QR codes are there in India?

8,855.05 lakh static UPI QR codes (about 88.55 crore) at the end of September 2026, per RBI. Bharat QR codes were 53.40 lakh.

Why did the PoS terminal count drop in 2026?

RBI shows it falling from 117.69 lakh at the end of March 2026 to 99.22 lakh in June 2026 and does not give a reason on the page.

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This figure is from RBI's own release or a report quoting it. We recheck it monthly. If you have a newer or better source, send it to us.