Hyderabad : India Post is examining an Aadhaar-based cashless payment mode for postal services to facilitate digital transactions, a senior official said on Monday.
“If you give your credit card, debit card or Aadhar number in a post office, your bank link will come when your Aadhar number is entered,” BV Sudhakar, secretary, Department of Posts, told reporters.
“Suppose, you have to make a registered post with some Rs 50 or Rs 20. That amount will be debited to you and credited to us. You don’t have to carry cash. This is being worked out to facilitate digital payments…It will be expanded all over India,” he said.
A software has been developed for the purpose by AP Technology Services and successfully tested at the General Post Office in Hyderabad, he said.
“We will test this on a pilot basis in some selected post offices in North, South, East and West (before rolling out),” Sudhakar said.
The Department of Posts is examining a proposal to allow installation of ATMs by any bank on the premises of the post offices.
“The proposal we are examining is, anybody can come and set up ATMs in the departmental post offices. They should pay us on the basis of transactions. It (the proposal) would be out approximately in one month,” he said.
The ATMs can be started in the 4,500 departmental buildings and the India Post Payment Bank (IPPB) is also working on having tie-ups with others, he said.
The IPPB, started with an initial capital of Rs 800 crore, has so far opened two branches at Ranchi and Raipur.
Sudhakar said 650 branches of IPPB would be opened with one being set up in every district by September 2017.The IPPB would primarily focus on financial inclusion, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and third party products.
The IPPB would emphasise on “door-step banking,” he said while expressing hope that the payment bank would be a “game- changer in rural economy.”— PTI
