Author : By Akash Shrivastava Sudipto Saha
India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) carries immense potential to bridge opportunity gaps, but its true test lies beyond urban UPI payments and instant KYC. The Jan Dhan–Aadhaar–Mobile (JAM) trinity has helped bring more than 590 million beneficiaries into the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana1, while UPI processed over 23 billion transactions in May 2026 alone. These achievements have earned global recognition for scalable, low-cost digital innovation. Yet access has not always translated into meaningful inclusion. In rural areas, many people still rely on costly informal credit despite having bank accounts. Women may hesitate to use digital payments because of limited confidence, fear of fraud, or gaps in financial literacy. Marginalized communities continue to face challenges related to connectivity, device affordability, and trust. For DPI to deliver on its promise, it must move from being a digital network to becoming a human enabler.
Beyond Access: From Transactions to Agency
For DPI to reach its true promise, it must evolve beyond being a high-speed transaction option for digitally informed populations; it must build agency for those who have historically been left out. A good example is India’s Account Aggregator (AA) framework, a system that allows individuals to securely share their financial data across institutions with their consent. This can help microentrepreneurs, informal workers, farmers, and people without conventional credit histories access more suitable credit, insurance, and other financial products.
Bridging the Digital Divide
One of the starkest realities is that the digital divide is not just about connectivity; it is also about who owns a device, who knows how to use it, and who feels safe using it for financial transactions. The GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report 2026 shows that in India, women were 33% less likely than men to own a smartphone in 2025, even as women’s smartphone ownership rose from 36% to 44%. Even when women have access to a smartphone, they may depend on male family members for devices, data, or assistance. For them, opening a payment application and transferring money is not simply about tapping a button; it is about confidence and control.Data Protection and Trust
With data at the core of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), robust protection is essential. The same rails that enable e-KYC and seamless payments can be misused without adequate safeguards. India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 is an important step, but its effectiveness depends on public awareness, meaningful consent, and accessible grievance redressal. PwC India’s survey found that 56% of consumers were unaware of their rights related to personal data, underscoring the distance still to travel on digital trust.Innovation with Intent: Keeping the Margins in Focus
India’s DPI is now inspiring countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. But its true legacy will be defined by how well it serves those at the margins. Beyond payments and identity, three platforms illustrate how digital infrastructure can support more inclusive innovation:- Account Aggregator (AA) Framework: RBI’s consent-based framework enables secure sharing of financial information across regulated institutions. By giving individuals greater control over how their financial data is shared, the framework can support faster and more informed access to credit and other financial services, particularly for small businesses and people without conventional credit histories.
- Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC): The government-backed open network connects sellers, including small retailers, artisans, farmers and FPOs, with digital commerce opportunities. Its open-network approach can lower entry barriers and help micro and rural entrepreneurs reach markets beyond their immediate geography.
- Common Service Centres (CSCs): A nationwide network of local digital service points that helps communities access public services, financial services, and digital support closer to where
they live.
Digital public goods—whether payment, identity, commerce, or consent frameworks—are only as inclusive as their design. Policymakers, technology providers, financial institutions, and civil society must continue to ask: Who decides what is built? Who benefits from the data? Who bears the risk? And who may still be left behind?
The National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) also recognizes that infrastructure alone is not enough. As India scales its Digital Public Infrastructure, financial and digital literacy initiatives such as the Centres for Financial Literacy (CFLs) remain important in helping rural communities use bank accounts, UPI, DBTs, and other financial services effectively. The CFL programme expanded from an 80-block pilot in 2017 to 1,107 centres in 2022 and 2,421 centres in 2024, as reported in the cited source. The next challenge is not simply expanding touchpoints, but ensuring that they translate digital access into informed and confident usage.