New Delhi, Aug 23 (IANS): Riding on the 'go cashless' bandwagon, cab-hailing app Uber on Wednesday launched a comprehensive Unified Payments Interface (UPI) integration in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Axis Bank and HDFC Bank.

The company partnered Axis bank to launch UPI integration for riders and HDFC bank to facilitate access to BHIM for driver partners. 

"India's digital payments economy alone will be bigger than $500 billion in the next five years. Integration of Uber app with UPI-BHIM will boost the digital economy of India," said IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at an event here.

"The UPI integration will bring millions of riders and driver partners into the digital payments ecosystem, offering them another secure and seamless payment interface and bolster the nation's digital payment revolution," added David Richter, Senior Vice President-Global Business, Uber.

According to the company, through the steadfast adoption of BHIM over the next few weeks among its over 285,000 weekly active drivers, the move will additionally enable over 450,000 registered drivers on the Uber platform to experience the power of UPI.

"Since nearly 60 per cent of app-based taxi drivers continue to make cash transactions, Uber's integration with BHIM/UPI will provide a positive stimulus to strengthen the adoption of digital payments," said Dilip Asbe, Chief Operating Officer, NPCI.