Note ban impact: Banking correspondents feel the heat of banks cutting cost

Earlier, an average BC, providing a business of Rs 0.5-0.7 million a month, would earn as much as Rs 5,000-7,000 as commission

About two years ago, when Amita Ghosh was still in a full-time clerical job with a private sector firm on the outskirts of Kolkata, many of her acquaintances had already seen a brisk rise in income as banking correspondents (BCs) in a short span of time. Their income suddenly rose three-fold, from an average of Rs 5,000 to around Rs 15,000 per month.

In August 2014, when the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana was launched, close to 100,000 banking correspondents were roped in, for banks scrambled to meet targets set by the government. Most of them being either higher secondary