Govt offers Rs. 1,300 cr per year incentive scheme to support homegrown RuPay & BHIM-UPI transactions

New Delhi, 16 Dec (KNN) In efforts to  promote RuPayDebit cards and low-value (upto Rs. 2,000) BHIM-UPI transactions (Person-to-Merchant (P2M)] in the country, the Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved an incentive scheme on Wednesday.                

Under the scheme, the acquiring banks will be incentivised by the Government, by way of paying percentage of value of transactions (P2M) done through RuPay Debit cards and low-value BHIM-UPI modes of payments, at an estimated financial outlay of INR 1,300 crore for a period of one year w.e.f. 1st April, 2021, said the press release.

It will facilitate acquiring Banks in building robust digital payment ecosystem and promoting RuPay Debit card and BHIM-UPI digital transactions, across all sectors and segments of the population and further deepening of digital payments in the country.

Who are outside of the formal banking and financial system will also be helped in making accessible digital modes of payments to unbanked and marginalized populations.

The scheme will further spur research and development and innovation in fintech space, and will help the Government in further deepening of digital payments in various part of countries, said the press release.

The scheme has been formulated in compliance with the Budget announcements (FY 2021-22) by the Government to give further boost to digital transactions in the country.

It is suggested that the government should also instruct banks a key stakeholder in this matter to give consumers the choice of having RuPay card.

RuPay is the first-of-its-kind domestic Card payment network of India, with wide acceptance at ATMs, POS devices and e-commerce websites across India. It is a highly secure network that protects against anti-phishing. The name, derived from the words ‘Rupee and ‘Payment’, emphasizes that it is India’s very own initiative for Card payments.