Across depts, govt looks to go online

TO ENSURE that those who want to avail government services are not turned away due to cash crunch, the Delhi government is set to introduce online payment facility across all its departments.

Along the lines of private organisations, sources said district-level departments will be equipped with facilities such as e-wallets, Paytm and point of sale (POS) machines. The government is in process of obtaining at least 70 POS machines, and is in talks with the State Bank of India, sources said.

Governmentsourcesalsoconfirmed that departments such as revenue, transport and the district magistrate office have been asked to go cashless.

According to sources, the move will facilitate easy payment for certificates, licences and other important documents.

“While a marriage certificate costs Rs 500, registering a will costs Rs 600. Apart from this, services such as stamp duty, licence fee for driving, caste certificate, obtaining records related to land are few of the services for which people pay cash. As a majority of them had old notes, they were turned away. To prevent this, the government has decided to use POS machines in all departments,” said a senior official.

Sources said implementation of the plan could take some time as banks are delaying disbursal of POS machines.

In the meantime, departments have been directed to initiate at least one mode of online payment at their respective service counters.

Sources said the government is also working towards putting together an “e-district portal”. Service charge can also be paid online, sources said.