HSIIDC, Paytm sign pact to encourage digital payments

The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) and mobile payment platform Paytm today signed a pact aimed at encouraging digital transactions in the state.
A memorandum of understanding was signed by HSIIDC managing director Sudhir Rajpal and Paytm CFO Madhur Deora, a Haryana government release said here.
Paytm will develop and promote 1,000 entrepreneurs in the state who would take Paytm services to the last mile, it said.
It will provide banking services in villages of Haryana to promote financial inclusion and would assist in bringing financial products to farmers, small traders and others in rural areas.
"It will also collaborate with various departments to provide online payment services to the citizens (government to citizens- G2C) such as electricity bill, gas bill. It will partner with the state government to achieve the objective of 'Digital India' and would explore potential of sharing its technical and financial expertise to support the digitisation of various schemes across departments," it further said.

Speaking on the occasion, Sudhir Rajpal said the MoU would be a step forward in the endeavor of the state government to encourage digital transactions in the state.

Under the MoU, Paytm would facilitate collateral free loans for MSMEs based on their transaction history on Paytm.
It will collaborate with HSIIDC to establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Haryana and would provide manpower for training and skill development. Also, Paytm would provide employment to 200 persons in industrially backward areas of the state.
Paytm has initiated the necessary study for identifying a district in the state to launch its pilot initiative for training the local people as associates and entrepreneurs and designated a team under a senior executive to take the initiative forward.

They will also take up the facility for providing collateral free loans to the MSME merchants in the State over the next three to six months. Besides, the HSIIDC has a plan to undertake the annuity distribution numbering about 75,000 through the Paytm platform as a pilot initiative.