The government said the benefits of the scheme includes the “promote UPI Lite and UPI 123Pay as economical and user-friendly digital payment options”, and to “building of a robust digital payment ecosystem.” Through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and promote Rupay debit cards the Union Cabinet on January 11 gave its nod to a Rs 2,600 crore-incentive scheme, which is aimed at boosting low-value transactions done.
Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav told reporters the scheme, with a total financial outlay of Rs 2,600 crore, has been approved for financial year 2022-23, the government said in a press briefing. The incentives will be provided on the use of Rupay debit cards and the person-to-merchant BHIM-UPI transactions of low value.
Under the scheme, “the acquiring banks will be provided financial incentive for promoting point-of-sale (PoS) and e-commerce transactions for current FY2022-23”, a release issued by the government stated. It added the benefits of the scheme includes the “building of a robust digital payment ecosystem”, and to “promote UPI Lite and UPI 123Pay as economical and user-friendly digital payment options.”
According to the government, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) the nodal body for digital payments and settlement systems had requested “for incentivisation of BHIM-UPI and RuPay Debit Card transactions to create a cost-effective value proposition for ecosystem stakeholders, increase merchant acceptance footprints and faster migration from cash payments to digital payments”.
The release added the scheme is also in line with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement in her last Budget speech, reiterating the government’s intent to “continue the financial support for digital payments”,
In a statement, the government said UPI 123PAY as economical and user-friendly digital payment solutions in line with the objective of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. The scheme would help in building a robust digital payment ecosystem and would also promote UPI Lite.
The government said the digital payment transactions, which witnessed remarkable growth over the years, facilitated functioning of businesses, including small merchants, and helped in maintaining social distancing during the Covid-19 crisis.
