PhonePe to recruit 20,000 staff amid rural payment push

PhonePe announced Thursday an ambitious expansion strategy aimed at deepening digital payment acceptance across India's merchant landscape, particularly in underserved rural and semi-urban regions. The initiative reflects the company's commitment to extending financial infrastructure beyond metropolitan centres into Tier 6 towns and villages across the country.

The expansion drive will see PhonePe recruit more than 20,000 frontline sales and merchant engagement personnel over the coming 12 months. Simultaneously, the company plans to deploy over 50 lakh payment acceptance devices, including SmartSpeakers and point-of-sale terminals, with approximately half of these units earmarked for deployment in rural India.

The company's growth plans have been bolstered by the newly implemented Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) framework, which has provided greater financial flexibility for long-term investment in merchant network expansion. PhonePe is leveraging a dedicated fund comprising 5 per cent of collected MDR revenue specifically for small merchant development, particularly in deep rural geographies.

Recent labour code reforms have also facilitated the company's hiring acceleration, enabling faster onboarding of the large workforce required for ground-level operations. Together, these policy developments are providing the foundation for PhonePe to expand payment acceptance infrastructure into markets previously considered less commercially viable for digital payment operators.