India’s Invisible Digital Backbone

“You’re not using an app. You’re using infrastructure.”

_{India’s digital journey didn’t begin with one breakthrough. It unfolded quietly, step by step. First, systems helped people prove who they were. Then came tools that made moving money easier. And before anyone fully realized it, digital services had begun slipping into everyday life. from small documents and healthcare to shopping and earning. What started as small fixes to real problems slowly turned into a digital ecosystem that now runs in the background of daily routines. And that brings us to the idea of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) – one of the biggest game changers in India’s digital story.} 

_{Wait, what exactly is DPI? In technical terms, “A set of shared digital systems which are secure and interoperable, built on open standards, and specifications to deliver and provide equitable access to public and private services at societal scale, and are governed by enabling rules to drive development, inclusion, innovation, trust, and competition, and to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms”. Lord, this sounds extremely jargonish. Let me simplify. Think of roads, electricity, and hospitals as the basic infrastructure that makes daily life possible. Now imagine the same infrastructure existing digitally. That is DPI. It emerged as the government began building shared digital systems to deliver welfare, healthcare, and essential services faster and more efficiently. We can say that DPI is the digital backbone that allows people to digitally identify themselves, make payments, and gain access to various services with ease.}

_{WHERE IT ALL STARTED: IDENTITY}

_{Let’s start with identity because every service begins with one simple question – who are you? In a small village in rural Karnataka, a woman loved stitching clothes for herself and her two daughters. Over time, her designs became popular among the villagers, and neighbors began asking her to stitch for them too. Encouraged, she decided to turn her hobby into a small business. Soon she realized that earning money was one thing; safeguarding and growing it was another. She needed a bank account. But opening one wasn’t simple. It usually meant piles of paperwork, multiple visits to the bank, and a long verification process to prove you were a genuine person or business. It was time-consuming and intimidating. To her surprise, the bank asked for just one document – her Aadhaar card, which verified her identity as a resident. With a single identity proof that verified her details, the process became as simple as carrying one key instead of an entire bunch.}

_{But what feels effortless today was once a very different experience. In the early years after Aadhaar enrolment began in 2009, KYC remained manual and paper-heavy. People carried multiple identity and address proofs, only to find that different institutions demanded different documents. Verification involved manual cross-checking, making the process slow and inconsistent. As enrolments increased, long queues outside centers became common.}

_{The introduction of electronic KYC (e-KYC) changed dramatically. With biometrics or OTP-based authentication, verification became almost instant and paperless. Errors reduced, fraud risk declined, and people could complete or update their KYC remotely without repeated visits.}   

_{THE PAYMENT SHIFT:}

_{So, identity was becoming simpler. But a big question remained – how does money move?}

_{Not long ago, transactions in India revolved around cash. Withdrawing money meant standing in long queues at the bank or hoping the ATM hadn’t run dry. Online shopping required complicated net banking steps or cash on delivery. Digital payments existed, but they weren’t effortless. Then came mobile wallets like Paytm. You could load money into your phone and start paying. It felt modern but still required moving money into a separate wallet first, which wasn’t seamless.}

_{Behind the scenes, the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) was building something bigger – a shared payment infrastructure connecting banks directly. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) was launched in 2016. Money could now move instantly from one bank to another. No wallet loading, no complex steps. Just one scan, enter your PIN, and you’re good to go. From a roadside tea stall to a supermarket counter, payment has now become effortless.}

_{DIGITAL SERVICES SPREAD OUT: Once payment became easy, DPI began spreading into other parts of daily life. It started showing up in ways people didn’t always notice. Take DigiLocker, for example. Instead of carrying physical documents everywhere, you can store and share verified certificates and IDs digitally whenever needed. In healthcare, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) introduced the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) digital health ID, allowing your medical records to be shared securely between hospitals and doctors with your consent.}

_{In commerce, the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is rethinking online buying and selling by connecting buyers and sellers across a common network instead of limiting them to one platform. And in education, the Open Network for Education and Skilling Transactions (ONEST) aims to make learning and skilling opportunities discoverable across platforms, creating a more open system for students and educators.}

_{CONNECTING THE ECOSYSTEM:}

_{As more digital systems emerged, another challenge appeared – how do they all work together?}

_{For all these digital systems to work smoothly together, something more was needed: a common rule that helps them communicate with each other. That’s where the Foundation for Interoperability in the Digital Economy (FIDE) plays a crucial role. FIDE doesn’t build apps or platforms. They instead create a set of common rules – or protocols – that allow different digital systems to work together smoothly and fairly. You can think of it as a rulebook for India’s digital world. One of FIDE’s key innovations is the Beckn Protocol. Think of it like when people from different states speak different languages, they would use some common connection, like English, to understand each other. That common language helps everyone communicate smoothly.  Beckn works similarly. It acts as a common language that allows different apps and service providers to communicate with each other. It is an open protocol. Meaning, no single company owns or controls it. Anyone can use it to build services on top of it.}

_{INDIA’S MODEL GOES GLOBAL: DPI has shaped not just digital payments and commerce, but many other sectors in India. Institutions like MOSIP, the Center for Digital Public Goods (CDPG) at IIM Bangalore, NPCI, iSPIRT, and several other public institutions are driving this transformation. They research gaps, build solutions, and continuously improve the systems we use every day.}

_{DPI in India didn’t just transform life at home; it began attracting global attention, too. During India’s G20 presidency, DPI became a major topic of discussion, and India shared its model with other countries, especially in the Global South. Through the Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP), developed at IIIT Bangalore, countries like the Philippines, Ethiopia, Morocco, and Sri Lanka have built their own digital identity systems. Through partnerships led by NPCI, UPI has begun expanding internationally, with acceptance pilots or partnerships in countries such as Bhutan, Nepal, the UAE, Singapore, and France.}

_{THE BIGGER PICTURE:}

_{DPI isn’t only about apps; it’s also about efficiency. It’s about saving time, reducing friction, and making opportunities reachable with a single tap. What once felt complicated now feels natural. And that’s the real success of India’s digital journey.}

_{So next time something “just works” on your phone, pause for a moment. Behind that ease lies a public system built for a million. And this story? It’s only just the beginning – picture abhi baaki hai mere dost! (Translation: The film is not yet over my friend!)}

_-Sunaina

_References: 

_{https://www.iimb.ac.in/cdpg/State-India-DPI-Report/#p=1} 

_{https://www.iimb.ac.in/cdpg/pdf/Monograph-Decoding-DPI.pdf}  

_{https://ideas.repec.org/a/aza/jpss00/y2025v19i3p291-308.html} 

_{https://hstalks.com/article/10775/making-the-case-for-real-time-payments-in-caricom-/}