Each Indian should teach 125 others BHIM payment app: Modi

Declaring digital payments will help fight corruption and proliferation of black money, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said each citizen should teach 125 persons how to use the BHIM digital payment app.

"Remembering Babasaheb Ambedkar, you teach at least 125 persons about downloading the BHIM app," Modi said in his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' radio broadcast.

To encourage digital payments after the November demonetisation of high-value currency notes, the government has recently launched the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) mobile app.

IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said earlier this month that the BHIM app had already crossed 140 lakh registrations.

"Lucky Grahak Yojana will complete 100 days on April 14, the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar," the Prime Minister said.

Following the ban on Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes, the government launched the Lucky Grahak Yojna (LGY) for consumers and Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana (DVY) for merchants to incentivise them and promote digital payments. The schemes will remain open until April 14.

There are 15,000 daily winners qualifying for total prize money of Rs 1.5 crore, as per the schemes. In addition to this, there are over 14,000 weekly winners qualifying for total prize money of over Rs 8.3 crore every week.

Customers and merchants who use RuPay Card, BHIM/UPI, USSD based *99# service and Aadhaar Enabled Payment Service are eligible for wining daily and weekly lucky draw prizes.

The government has given away over Rs 153.5 crore reward money to nearly 10 lakh citizens under these schemes, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said earlier this week.

"It is a delight to learn that till now, under the Digi-Dhan Yojana, 10 lakh people have been rewarded, over 50,000 traders have won prizes and an amount of almost over a 150 crore rupees has been earned as prize money by people who have promoted and carried forward this great campaign," Modi said.

--IANS

bc/vt