iWorld
PayUMoney facilitated 1 Billion Transactions and 1.3 Lakhs Sign Ups for Indian SMEs in the online marketplace!
MUMBAI: Since its inception in April 2013, PayUMoney has carved out a new market for Indian SMEs – with easy payment collection solutions and hassle-free integration, more than 1.3 lakhs SMEs have signed up with PayUMoney while 30,000 live merchants have already processed transactions worth 1 billion rupees!
Achieving this feat in such a short span is nothing short of a revolution. How did PayUMoney pull off this task? By simply following the mantra – Whatever the payment collection need, PayUMoney has the payment solution to match!
PayUMoney stepped in to erase the basic issues faced by Indian SMEs. Typically, a small business owner would first put in: Monies + Time + Energy + Build Website + Maintenance = End Product, i.e. an ecommerce website. This is a long and tiring process. But PayUMoney takes away all these steps and provides Indian sellers specific solutions for specific categories of business.
Scaling up operation was the first step to success for PayUMoney!
PayUMoney’s payment solution features are designed in a way such as to enable an average Indian seller to focus solely on his business as PayUMoney takes care of the payment requirements in a hassle-free manner!
To achieve this seamless work-relationship, PayUMoney invested in a strong technology product with a solid scalable process to help lakhs of Indian sellers who were looking to increase their sales through online channel. This investment helped merchant acquisition and customer service teams to operate efficiently, enabling Indian sellers to adopt the online channel easily. But what makes PayUMoney different amongst the many ecommerce players who offer payment collection solutions to their SME partners?
The below table showcases the average monthly transactions processed by live merchants on PayUMoney versus the average monthly transaction processed by traditional ecommerce players.
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This clearly indicates that using the PayUMoney has been more effective for SMEs to sell their big ticket products online when compared to ecommerce players as traditionally, ecommerce players act as aggregators, displaying products by other vendors as well. Using PayUMoney enables SMEs to not only market their products online directly but also collect payments for them.
Because of the ease of use and quick integration, there has been Quarter by Quarter growth in merchant acquisition for PayUMoney since April, 2013:
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The above graph depicts the quarter on quarter growth for seller acquisition. In the 2nd quarter itself, merchants acquisition grew six times over, and the third, fourth and fifth quarter have seen acquisition double over each time, respectively.
Click here to read full report…
iWorld
Micro-Dramas Surge in India, Redefining Mobile Content Habits
Meta-Ormax study maps rapid rise of short-form storytelling among 18–44 audiences.
MUMBAI: Micro-dramas aren’t just short, they’re the snack that ate Indian entertainment, and now everyone’s bingeing between the sofa cushions. Meta, in partnership with Ormax Media, has released ‘Micro Dramas: The India Story’, a comprehensive study unveiled at the inaugural Meta Marketing Summit: Micro-Drama Edition. The report maps how the vertical, bite-sized format is reshaping content consumption for mobile-first audiences aged 18–44 across 14 states.
Conducted between November 2025 and January 2026 through 50 in-depth interviews and 2,000 personal surveys, the research reveals that 65 per cent of viewers discovered micro-dramas within the last year proof of explosive adoption. Nearly 89 per cent encounter the format through social feeds and recommendations, making algorithm-driven discovery the primary engine rather than active search.
Key viewing patterns show a median of 3.5 hours per week (about 30 minutes daily) spread across 7–8 short sessions. Consumption peaks between 8 pm and midnight, with additional spikes during commutes and work breaks classic “in-between moments” that the format fills perfectly. Around 57 per cent of viewing happens in ambient mode (while doing something else), and 90 per cent is solo, enabling more intimate, personal storytelling.
Romance, family drama and comedy lead genre preferences. Audiences show growing openness to AI-generated content, 47 per cent find it unique and creative, while only 6 per cent say they would avoid it entirely. Regional languages are surging after Hindi and English, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada dominate consumption.
Meta, director, media & entertainment (India) Shweta Bajpai said, “Micro-drama isn’t a passing trend, it’s rewriting the rules of Indian entertainment. In under a year, an entirely new category of platforms has emerged, built audience habits from scratch, and created a business vertical that is scaling fast.”
Ormax Media founder-CEO Shailesh Kapoor added, “Micro-dramas are beginning to show the early signs of becoming a distinct content category in India’s digital entertainment landscape. When a format aligns closely with how audiences naturally engage with their devices, it has the potential to scale very quickly.”
The study proposes ecosystem-wide responsibility, universal signposting of commercial intent, shared accountability among advertisers, platforms, creators, schools and parents, built-in safeguards, and formal media literacy in schools.
In a feed that never sleeps and a day that never stops, micro-dramas have slipped into the cracks of every spare minute turning 30-second stories into the new national pastime, one vertical swipe at a time.
