650 India Post payments banks to start by May

He said the work of system integration of the payments bank had been completed and processes mandated by the Reserve Bank of India would be completed within one week. “It is likely that 650 branches of the India Post payments bank would start functioning from May,” he said at a press conference. The minister said that the launch of the postal department’s payments bank would enable more than 1.5 lakh post offices to become access points for people to avail banking services, adding that it would help the government’s plans of financial inclusion and direct transfer of benefits in remote areas. 

India Post had received permission from the RBI to start a payments bank in January last year, following which it set up two branches, on a pilot basis, in Raipur and Ranchi. He said that a new regional office of the postal department would be opened in Jabalpur in the state. He said that India Post had been adopting new technology in a bid to provide services at a faster pace and, as part of it, postmen were being provided with smart phones and handheld devices. 

“So far, 15,000 such devices have been distributed to postmen in the country. Soon 40,000 postal workers will have such devices. This would enable faster delivery of all kinds of services,” he said.

The Centre is working on a proposal to incentivise digital transactions by providing cashback to businesses and price benefits to consumers, a source said. As per the proposal being worked out by the Revenue Department, consumers paying through digital mode would be offered a discount over the MRP. The discount would be capped at Rs 100. Businesses, on the other hand, could get a cashback based on the quantum of turnover through the digital mode. The proposals to encourage digital transactions are likely to be placed before the GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state ministers, on May 4.