"To mitigate hardship to the public, select additional activities have been allowed which will come into effect from 20th April. 2020. These limited exemptions will be operationalized by states/UTs / district administrations based on strict compliance to the existing guidelines," the MHA directive noted.
As per the revised guidelines, IT vendors for banking operations, banking correspondents, ATM operations and cash management agencies will also be functional.
Bank branches are allowed to work as per normal working hours till disbursal of DBT cash transfers are complete, it said, adding, local administration is to provide adequate security personnel at bank branches and for banking correspondents to maintain social distancing and staggering of account holders.
The local administration has to ensure that there is adequate security personnel at bank branches to maintain social distancing and law and order.
Direct Benefit Transfer(DBT) to the poor and vulnerable section of society, hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak and the consequent lockdown, is providing financial support for sustaining during these difficult times.
It further said the digital economy is critical to the services sector and is important for national growth. Accordingly, e-commerce operations, operations of IT and IT enabled services, data and call centres for government activities, and online teaching and distance learning are all permitted activities now.
The revised consolidated guidelines are aimed at operating those sectors of the economy which are critical from the perspective of rural and agricultural development and job creation, while maintaining strict protocols in areas where safety is paramount to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country, it added.
As per the revised guidelines, IT vendors for banking operations, banking correspondents, ATM operations and cash management agencies will also be functional.
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