Banks shall not charge fees for transactions settled on IMPS and UPI in excess of rates charged for NEFT for transactions above Rs 1,000, the order said.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday launched a new service, which will enable over 40 crore feature phone users to undertake digital payments in a secure way. The service christened UPI (unified payments interface) '123PAY' is a three-step method to initiate and execute services for users which will work on simple phones which do not have an internet connection. Das said, as of now, the multifaceted features of UPI are mostly available only on smartphones, which excludes people from the lower rung of the society from an economic perspective, especially in the rural areas, from accessing the popular service, even though the smartphone prices are going down.
BHIM is a platform designed to make payment through UPI and USSD modes simpler.
State-run BSNL on Tuesday launched a service wherein its mobile customers will be able to access Facebook without any Internet or data connectivity.
By the end of December 2021, India had 389 million users who did not have access to mobile Internet, while there were 765.8 million mobile Internet users in the country.
Discussions are on in government about how to make the process simpler for the poor and more cost-effective for telecom operators, says Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
Only registered IRCTC users can use these services as of now. Currently, Indian railways don't allow Mobile ticket booking between 8 am to 12 pm.
Feature phones still hold the majority of the 270 million handsets market in the country/
The Bharat Interface For Money app was launched on the iOS platform earlier this month. It is also available on the more popular Android platform. There have been over 17 million downloads of the BHIM app so far.
Like Indira Gandhi, even Narendra Modi seems to be relying on directing public-sector banks through ministry of finance supported by party cadres, says Debashis Basu.
Telecom operators have to take double confirmation from consumers before activating value added services (VAS) and must complete de-activation requests in four hours, sectoral regulator Trai said.
FINDIT will provide access to information on 175,000 business listings.
In the wake of scrapping of old Rs 500/1,000 banknotes, Niti Aayog has asked National Payments Corporation of India to frame a new scheme to incentivise digital payments.
For those who are sceptical about using debit or credit cards, even when faced with cash crunch, Adhil Shetty, CEO of BankBazaar.com, lists out a few safe cashless options that can be exercised through mobile phones.
The minister also exempted components from taxes to encourage domestic manufacturing of these devices.
Since payment alternatives such as UPI, e-wallets and USSD - based mobile banking through different platforms are directly or indirectly linked to the user's bank account one needs to be extra careful to keep hackers at bay, explains Adhil Shetty, CEO, BankBazaar.
E-commerce companies have understood the importance of having their own in-house wallet, explaining their acquisition spree, says Manoranjan Mohapatra.
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The first phase would comprise universal access to banking facilities. Under this, basic bank accounts with zero balance, RuPay debit card and financial literacy, will have to be completed in the next one year, officials said.
As many as 75 million households that do not have access to banking services will be covered and at least one bank account opened for each household, against the earlier proposal of two.
Watal panel had suggested an independent payments regulator be set up.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched his government's mega scheme ' Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana', declaring that it was aimed at eradicating financial untouchability by providing bank accounts to the poor.
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