New Delhi: To promote transactions, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a scheme of Rs 2600 crore. The scheme will encourage RuPay Debit cards and BHIM-UPI for small transactions. Under this, financial assistance will be provided to banks to promote e-commerce transactions and Point of Sale (POS) in the current financial year. The government’s vision is that the assistance of Rs 2600 crore will go a long way in building a robust digital payments ecosystem, which is much needed in today’s times.
The cabinet decision states that the scheme will also promote UPI Lite and UPI 123 Pay as cost-effective and user-friendly digital payment modes. The Modi government has been trying to promote digital payments for a long time to limit the practice of cash transactions and in this sequence several notable works have been done including the launch of Roop debit card and BHIM UPI.
What is the plan of the government
The scheme with a total financial outlay of Rs 2,600 crore has been approved for the financial year 2022-23, the government said in a press briefing. Union minister Bhupendra Yadav told reporters that incentives would be provided on the use of RuPay debit cards and low-value person-to-merchant BHIM-UPI transactions. Under the scheme, financial incentives will be provided to banks for promoting Point-of-Sale (POS) and e-commerce transactions for the current financial year 2022-23.
Growing scope of digital payments
The plan is also in line with the announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her previous budget speech reiterating the government’s intention to “continue financial support for digital payments”. Digital payment transactions are making steady progress in the country. UPI has achieved a record 782.9 crore digital payment transactions in the month of December 2022 with a value of Rs 12.82 lakh crore.
Total digital payment transactions have registered a year-on-year growth of 59 percent, from 5,554 crore in FY 2020-21 to 8,840 crore in FY 2021-22. BHIM-UPI transactions have registered a year-on-year jump. 2,233 crore in FY 2020-21 to 4,597 crore in FY 2021-22.
