Use of Aadhaar-enabled payment service doubles
NEW DELHI: Average usage of the Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AePS) has doubled to 11.3 million per day during the Covid-19 lockdown that started on March 25, as beneficiaries of the ₹1.7 lakh crore Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) tapped the system to withdraw money transferred by the government to their accounts
A total of 430 million transactions worth ₹16,101 crore have taken place so far since the start of the lockdown, a finance ministry official said, requesting anonymity.
The government ordered a nationwide lockdown from March 25 for three weeks that was extended twice and is scheduled to end on May 17.
AePS is a payment service that enables a customer to use his or her unique identity number to access bank accounts and perform basic transactions such as cash deposits, cash withdrawals, balance enquiry,
Aadhaar-to-Aadhaar account fund transfers and remittances through a business correspondent (BC) in remote areas.
The government has so far transferred ₹32,300 crore to bank accounts of 340 million beneficiaries since the launch of the ₹1.7 lakh crore welfare scheme on March 26 by finance minister Nirmala sitharaman to protect the poor from the impact of the lockdown, another finance ministry official said, also requesting anonymity.
PMGKY includes free distribution of wheat, rice and pulses, three cooking gas cylinders and cash assistance to the poor for three months starting from April.
PMGKY also offers ₹500 per month to 200 million women Jan Dhan account holders for three months.
AePS is an easy-to-use, safe and secure payment platform to avail of benefits by using the Aadhaar number and biometrics as it eliminates the threat of fraud, the second official said.
The system is used to facilitate disbursements of government entitlements such as wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program (MGNREGA), social security pensions, and handicapped/old age pensions.
The system enables banks to extend financial services to customers in remote locations where they do not have branch networks and operate through BCs.