'Wow, Didn't Expect This': French Tourist Amazed By 'QR Codes' Everywhere Across India - VIDEO

For millions of Indians, scanning a QR code to pay for tea, snacks or an auto-rickshaw ride has become an ordinary part of daily life. But for foreign visitors, the widespread use of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) can still be striking.

French content creator Manika, who helps travellers from France discover India, recently shared her surprise at how deeply digital payments have become embedded in everyday transactions. Her experience came as UPI marked 10 years since its launch in August 2016.

“I never expected” UPI to be everywhere

Manika said she already knew about UPI before travelling to India. What she had not anticipated, however, was the scale at which people use it in their everyday lives.

“One thing I NEVER expected to discover in India,” she wrote while describing her experience.

She explained that although she was aware of India’s digital payment system, she “honestly didn’t realise how deeply digital payments are integrated into everyday life”.

The biggest surprise was not simply the existence of UPI, but where she found it.

From street vendors to rickshaws

In many countries, digital payment systems are closely associated with supermarkets, major retailers, restaurants and other formal businesses. In India, UPI QR codes can be found in places far removed from those settings.

Manika noticed QR codes at small food stalls, neighbourhood stores, cafés, rickshaws and businesses of all sizes.

“And what surprised me most is that it’s not just in big cities or fancy places,” she said. “You can find QR codes at small street-food stalls, local shops, cafs, rickshaws and businesses of all kinds.”

That means even a low-value transaction can be completed digitally. Whether someone is buying a Rs 20 snack, paying for a short auto ride or picking up something from a roadside shop, the process can be as simple as scanning a code and confirming the payment.

A different payment culture for French travellers

For Manika, the experience highlighted a noticeable difference between the payment culture she knows in France and what she encountered in India.

“Coming from France, this was one of those little everyday cultural differences that made me think: ‘Wow, I really didn’t expect this,’” she said.

The reaction reflects how visitors can sometimes notice technological changes that local residents take for granted. In India, QR-based payments have become so routine that many people no longer think twice about using them for even the smallest purchases.

For a traveller seeing the system for the first time, however, the same QR code appearing at a premium restaurant and a tiny roadside stall can be a powerful illustration of how widely digital payments have spread.

UPI has transformed everyday payments in India

UPI was introduced in August 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), with the aim of making bank-to-bank digital transactions simpler and more accessible.

Over the years, it has evolved into one of the defining features of India’s digital payments ecosystem. Instead of relying only on cash or cards, consumers can transfer money directly from their bank accounts using a UPI-enabled app.

Its appeal has also been driven by convenience. Small businesses can accept payments through a QR code without requiring customers to carry cash, while consumers can make transactions quickly from their phones.