The number of online donations for charitable causes took a massive 731 per cent increase during the lockdowns, compared to the period under the first round of Covid restrictions imposed last year, according to a report comparing the two lockdown periods.

Online transactions increased 52 per cent, while expenditures surged 76 per cent, between the two subsequent months of May, shows the PayU Insights Report, released today. There has been a 10 per cent increase in the number of transactions after the second round of lockdowns, and the average ticket size has decreased 21 per cent, indicating that users are adopting online payments even for smaller-size transactions.

The report looked into the impact of lockdowns across sectors and provides an overview of the Indian digital payments space. In lockdown 2.0, the logistics sector recorded a 217 per cent increase in the number of transactions and a 227 per cent increase in expenditure, compared to lockdown 1.0. The sector also maintained a steady 59 per cent growth in the number of transactions and a 57 per cent increase in expenditure compared to the months before lockdown 2.0.

“This could be attributed to a larger usage of courier delivery services and purchase and transfer of essential items during the May 2021 period. It is also possible that incentives announced in Budget 2021, such as the scheme to boost digital payments may have improved sentiments for the sector,” said a statement from the online payments solution provider.

The entertainment sector suffered the worst brunt of the lockdowns with a 35 per cent decline in the number of transactions, a 41 per cent decrease in expenditure, and an 11 per cent drop in the average ticket size year on year.

“Broadly, businesses and consumers were better prepared to deal with the exigencies of lockdown in 2021. Given that the lockdown was staggered and geographically restricted, the growth of digital payments has been steady, especially for sectors like retail, logistics and pharma,” said Hemang Dattani, Head of Data Intelligence at PayU.

Lockdown 2.0 recorded a phenomenal growth for UPI as a payment mode. The number of transactions through UPI increased 320 per cent and expenditure surged 306 per cent in lockdown 2.0, compared to lockdown 1.0. The next highest growth in modes of payment was seen in credit card transactions, as the number of transactions increased by 87 per cent and expenditure increased by 69 per cent year on year. For net banking and debit card modes, the number of transactions grew 12 per cent and 6 per cent year on year.