Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Dec.15: The union cabinet approved reimbursement of Rs 1,300 crore on such purchases on Wednesday, aiming to boost digital transactions and incentivize users using Rupay debit cards and the BHIM unified payments interface (UPI) system.
Minister for electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw explained the cabinet’s decision, saying that the government will repay transaction fees charged on digital payments made by individuals to merchants as part of the merchant discount rate (MDR).
“In the coming one year the government will invest around ? 1,300 crore so that more and more people move towards digital payments,” Vaishnaw said.
He further stated that in November 2021, 423 crore digital transactions worth Rs.7.56 lakh crore took place.
The government will incentivize acquiring banks under the programme by paying a proportion of the amount of transactions (P2M) made using RuPay debit cards and low-value BHIM-UPI forms of payments, at an estimated financial cost of Rs 1,300 crore for a one-year period beginning April 1, 2021.
This scheme will assist acquiring banks in developing a strong digital payment ecosystem and promoting RuPay Debit card and BHIM-UPI digital transactions across all sectors and segments of the population, as well as deepening the country’s digital payments.
According to official sources, it will also assist in making digital means of payment available to unbanked and marginalised parts of the population who are not part of the formal banking and financial system.
