Narendra Modi to launch new BHIM platform to push digital payments

Modi will felicitate winners of mega draw of two major incentive schemes to promote digital payments

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch BHIM-Aadhaar platform for merchants to facilitate digital payments and unveil cash back and referral bonus schemes for the BHIM app at Nagpur on Friday.

These announcements will be made by the prime minister at a function on the occasion of 126th birth anniversary of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar.

"BHIM-Aadhaar, the merchant interface of the BHIM App, to be launched by the prime minister will pave the way for making digital payments by using the Aadhaar platform," an official statement said on Thursday.

"This will enable every Indian citizen to pay digitally using their biometric data like their thumb imprint on a merchants' biometric enabled device which could be smartphone having a biometric reader," it added.

Already, 27 major banks are now on board with 3 lakh merchants so that they can start accepting payments using BHIM Aadhaar, the statement pointed out.

Modi will also felicitate the winners of the mega draw of the two major incentive schemes to promote digital payments, -- Lucky Grahak Yojana and Digidhan Vyapaar Yojana.

Further, to ensure that the culture of digital payments permeates down to the grassroot, the statement said the prime minister will also launch two new incentive schemes for the BHIM - cashback and referral bonus schemes.

Under the cashback and referral bonus schemes, incentives totalling Rs 495 crore will be given to merchants for accepting payments through BHIM and existing users for referring it to others.

"The launch of BHIM-Aadhaar app and the launch of the two schemes cash back and referral schemes by the prime minister will provide a major impetus to the digital payment revolution in India," the statement said quoting NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

Under the NITI Aayog's two incentive schemes — Lucky Grahak Yojana and DigiDhan Vyapar Yojan — Rs 258 crore of prize money was won by 16 lakh persons.

The prime minister will also felicitate lucky winners of 1 crore, 50 lakh, 25 lakh awards for embracing digital payments under Lucky Grahak Yojana.

With a view to achieving the target of 2500 crore digital transactions during the current financial year, the statement further said the prime minister will also announce about 75 townships spread all over India as 'less-cash townships'.

It said townships selected for the launch have been subjected to independent third party assessment by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) and only those townships which have reported more than 80 per cent of the total number of transactions in the township being done through digital modes of payments during the review period are included in this list.

"These townships are likely to generate over 1.5 lakh digital transactions every day thereby leading to about 5.5 crore digital transactions in a year," the statement pointed out.

According to the statement, indigenous digital payments BHIM app has already created a new world record by registering 1.9 crore downloads in just four months since its launch in December, 2016.