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INDIA MUST BE ADHAAR ENABLED

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NEW DELHI: The financial systems of the country have to be made Aadhaar-enabled to make the transition to a digital economy. This is one of the decisions taken by a group of ministers which is charting out a strategy for digital payments. The Aadhaar link should be made even at the existing Point of Sale (PoS) level and at the internet banking level to “formalise cashless banking in the country,” it was felt

The group, led by minister for Electronics and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad, which met for the second time in a week, also suggested that public sector banks should make the initial push towards digitalisation. One government official who attended the meeting said the idea was to make bankers focus more on digital payment modes instead of across the counter mode of operations.

Aadhaar is being pushed because it doesn’t require people to remember their PINs or password, which can be an issue with the poor and the illiterate. Through Aadhaar, only biometric based authentication is needed,” said the official.

The group had met on Monday and had chalked out a plan to promote tools such as Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and digital wallet apps. They had also discussed ways to make government-owned touch points such as post offices to facilitate digital payments. They also wanted increased collaboration with the state governments to convert the economy into a cashless one.

“Post their discussions, the relevant authorities will be briefed for implementation,” added the official. The group also suggested that public sector banks should push forward their digitalisation plans promoting their wallet applications considering that private wallets are much ahead in the race.


1ST DECEMBER 2016,THE ECONOMIC TIMES , NEW DELHI.

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