Lok Sabha Question No. 362 (STARRED), answered on 2018-03-21
Subject: Digital Payments
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: RAMDAS CHANDRABHANJI TADAS, RAJIV PRATAP RUDY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *362

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.03.2018

## DIGITAL PAYMENTS

## *362      SHRI  RAMDAS C TADAS: SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY:

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:

- (a)       whether there has been a noticeable increase in use of digital payments in the country since  demonetization  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  volume  and percentage of digital transactions during the last five years, year-wise;
- (a) whether this growth meets the expectations of the Government and if not, the reasons therefore;
- (b) whether there has been a comparative study on the digital transactions carried across the world and if so, the details thereof, country-wise;
- (c) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  ensuring  that  digital  transactions  are  safe  and secure; and
- (d) the measures taken / being taken to incentivise digital transaction and promote digital economy/literacy, especially in rural regions of the country?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) to (e):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*362  FOR 21.03.2018 REGARDING DIGITAL PAYMENTS

- (a): Yes, Sir. There has been a noticeable increase in use of digital payments in the country since demonetization. This increase is visible in the  growth seen in the  number of daily transactions by various  digital payment modes  as given in the table below:

| No. of Transactions per Day     | 8th November, 2016   | 8th February, 2018   | Growth   |
|---------------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|----------|
| UPI (BHIM &USSD)                | 3694(Actual)         | 58.54 lakh           | 158373%  |
| Debit Card (RuPay)              | 3.85 lakh            | 22.39 lakh           | 482%     |
| Immediate Payment System (IMPS) | 13.94 lakh           | 37.49 lakh           | 169%     |
| Aadhaar Enabled Payments System | 9.94 lakh            | 33.75 lakh           | 240%     |

Data Source:  NPCI

The  details of  Digital Payment transactions by volume and value for last five years  using various digital payment modes  (RTGS, EFT/NEFT, IMPS, Credit card / Debit card usage at POS, m-Wallet, PPI Cards, UPI, AEPS, NETC, BBPS, NACH)  is placed at Annexure-I . The summary of the same is tabulated  below :

Digital Transaction over the last five years

| Year/Modes                         |   FY 2013-14 |   FY 2014-15 |   FY 2015-16 |   FY 2016-17 |   FY 2017-18* |
|------------------------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|---------------|
| Volume of Transactions (In Cr)     |       210.52 |       317.6  |       577.75 |      1012.58 |        1605.3 |
| Value of Transactions (in Lakh Cr) |       951.62 |       994.24 |      1128.71 |      1393.21 |        1462.6 |

- (b): The  growth  in  digital  payments  by  value  and  volume  since  demonetization  is  given  at  Annexure-II(a)  &(b) respectively and it is phenomenal. This growth is largely to the satisfaction of Government.
- (c): The Ratan P Watal Committee set up by the Ministry of Finance gave its report in November 2016 (available at http://finance.du.ac.in/du-finance/uploads/pdf/Reports/watal\_report271216.pdf.)  In the report cash to GDP ratio (as a proxy for digitalization) of certain countries has been brought out as given below:
- (d): RBI and CERT-In have been regularly issuing circulars and advisories to banks and all payment system providers to  ensure  the  safety  and  security  in  digital  payment  transactions.  The    listing  of  such  instructions  issued  by  RBI  & CERT-In are  kept at Annexure-III(a)&(b) respectively.
- (e):      The  Government  has  incentivized    the  usage  of  BHIM  App  for  making  digital  transactions.  With  effect  from 1.1.2018 MDR on debit card transactions of value upto Rs.2000 is to be reimbursed to the banks by the Government in order to bring such transactions on par with cash. Besides Ministries and departments such as Railways, Petroleum & Natural gas etc are offering incentives to promote digital payments. A list of such incentives is kept at Annexure-IV . Through the programme of Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan (PMGDISHA) measures are afoot to train six crore persons in rural areas, across States/UTs in various aspects of digital literacy including digital financial literacy,    covering      one  member  from  every  eligible  household  in  about  40%  of  rural  households  by  31 st March, 2019. Besides  there  are  2,92,406    number  of  Community  Service  Centres  (CSCs)  of  which    1,83,005    number  are operating in rural area and these CSCs play crucial role in enabling and facilitating digital transactions.

<!-- image -->

Figure: Cash to GDP Ratio 2013

## Mode-wise digital payment transaction data for last 5 years

| Year/Modes               | FY 2013-14   | FY 2013-14       | FY 2014-15   | FY 2014-15       | FY 2015-16   | FY 2015-16       | FY 2016-17   | FY 2016-17       | FY 2017-18*   | FY 2017-18*      |
|--------------------------|--------------|------------------|--------------|------------------|--------------|------------------|--------------|------------------|---------------|------------------|
| Units                    | Vol (In Cr)  | Val (in Lakh Cr) | Vol (In Cr)  | Val (in Lakh Cr) | Vol (In Cr)  | Val (in Lakh Cr) | Vol (In Cr)  | Val (in Lakh Cr) | Vol (In Cr)   | Val (in Lakh Cr) |
| RTGS                     | 8.11         | 904.97           | 9.28         | 929.33           | 9.83         | 1035.5 5         | 10.79        | 1253.65          | 10.11         | 1194.5 3         |
| EFT/NEFT                 | 66.10        | 43.79            | 92.75        | 59.80            | 125.2 9      | 83.27            | 162.21       | 120.04           | 156.88        | 134.84           |
| IMPS                     | 1.54         | 0.10             | 7.84         | 0.58             | 22.08        | 1.62             | 50.67        | 4.11             | 80.04         | 7.00             |
| Credit card usage at POS | 50.91        | 1.54             | 61.51        | 1.90             | 78.57        | 2.41             | 108.71       | 3.28             | 116.31        | 3.77             |
| Debit card usage at POS  | 61.91        | 0.95             | 80.81        | 1.21             | 117.3 6      | 1.59             | 239.93       | 3.30             | 271.40        | 3.78             |
| m-Wallet                 | 10.75        | 0.03             | 25.50        | 0.08             | 60.40        | 0.21             | 163.00       | 0.53             | 244.72        | 0.85             |
| PPI Cards                | 2.56         | 0.03             | 5.89         | 0.11             | 14.35        | 0.25             | 33.31        | 0.28             | 37.25         | 0.28             |
| NACH                     | 8.65         | 0.21             | 34.02        | 1.22             | 140.4 1      | 3.80             | 205.73       | 7.92             | 207.60        | 8.48             |
| Ape's                    | -            | -                | -            | -                | 9.47         | 0.00             | 34.45        | 0.02             | 78.29         | 0.19             |
| BHIM UPI/USSD            | -            | -                | -            | -                | -            | -                | 1.75         | 0.07             | 56.58         | 0.67             |
| NETC                     | -            | -                | -            | -                | -            | -                | 2.03         | 0.01             | 9.78          | 0.03             |
| BBPS                     | -            | -                | -            | -                | -            | -                | 0.01         | 0.00             | 1.38          | 0.01             |
| Internet Banking         | -            | -                | -            | -                | -            | -                | -            | -                | 113.96        | 89.56            |
| Mobile Banking           | -            | -                | -            | -                | -            | -                | -            | -                | 48.55         | 2.09             |
| Others                   | -            | -                | -            | -                | -            | -                | -            | -                | 66.46         | 16.48            |
| Closed Loop              | -            | -                | -            | -                | -            | -                | -            | -                | 105.99        | 0.02             |
| Transactions             | 210.52       | 951.62           | 317.6 0      | 994.24           | 577.7 5      | 1128.7 1         | 1012.5 8     | 1393.21          | 1605.3 0      | 1462.5 8         |

Data for 2017-18 is Till January, 2017-18

* Data obtained from RBI, Banks and PPI       * '-' data not available

The month-on-month growth of various Digital Payment modes since demonetization is as below-

## Digital Payment Volume (In Crores)

| Mode of Digital Payment   | Nov- 16   |   Dec- 16 |   Jan- 17 |   Feb- 17 |   Mar- 17 |   Apr- 17 |   May- 17 |   Jun- 17 |   Jul- 17 |   Aug -17 |   Sep- 17 |   Oct- 17 |   Nov- 17 |   Dec- 17 | Jan -18   |
|---------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| RTGS                      | 0.8       |       0.9 |       0.9 |       0.9 |       1.3 |       1   |       1   |       1   |       0.9 |       0.9 |       1   |       1   |       1.1 |       1.1 | 1.1       |
| EFT/NEFT                  | 12        |      17   |      16   |      15   |      19   |      14   |      16   |      15   |      15   |      15   |      16   |      16   |      16   |      17   | 17        |
| IMPS                      | 4         |       5   |       6   |       6   |       7   |       7   |       7   |       7   |       7   |       8   |       8   |       9   |       9   |      10   | 10        |
| Credit Card at PoS        | 10        |      12   |      11   |       9   |      11   |      11   |      12   |      11   |      11   |      12   |      11   |      12   |      12   |      12   | 13        |
| Debit Usage at PoS        | 24        |      42   |      33   |      25   |      27   |      27   |      26   |      25   |      26   |      27   |      27   |      28   |      27   |      29   | 30        |
| m-Wallet                  | 14        |      21   |      26   |      25   |      31   |      32   |      24   |      22   |      24   |      23   |      20   |      20   |      19   |      29   | 33        |
| PPI Cards                 | 3         |       5   |       3   |       3   |       3   |       3   |       4   |       3   |       3   |       4   |       4   |       4   |       5   |       3   | 3         |
| Mobile Banking            | 9         |      11   |      11   |      10   |      11   |      11   |      11   |      12   |      10   |      10   |      11   |      15   |      18   |      25   | 27        |
| UPI(Incl. BHIM/USSD)      | 0         |       0.2 |       0.4 |       0.4 |       0.6 |       0.7 |       0.9 |       1   |       1.2 |       1.7 |       3.1 |       7.7 |      10.5 |      14.6 | 15. 2     |
| NACH                      | 16        |      21   |      17   |      16   |      19   |      22   |      20   |      21   |      21   |      21   |      19   |      20   |      21   |      20   | 22        |
| AEPS Total                | 3         |       4   |       4   |       4   |       5   |       6   |       7   |       8   |       8   |       8   |       8   |       8   |       8   |       9   | 9         |
| BBPS                      | 0         |       0.3 |       0   |       0   |       0   |       0   |       0   |       0   |       0   |       0.1 |       0.2 |       0.2 |       0.2 |       0.3 | 0.4       |
| NETC                      | -         |       0   |       0.6 |       0.7 |       0.8 |       0.7 |       0.8 |       0.8 |       0.9 |       1   |       1   |       1   |       1.1 |       1.2 | 1.3       |
| Total                     | 95        |     138   |     130   |     115   |     136   |     134   |     129   |     127   |     128   |     130   |     129   |     142   |     148   |     171   | 182       |

From nearly 94 crore Digital Transaction in Nov-16 to approximately 182 Crore transactions in Jan-18, there has been a nearly 93% growth in volume of Digital Payments.

## Annexure-II(b)

| Mode of Digital Payment   | Nov- 16   | Dec -16   | Jan-17   | Feb- 17   | Mar - 17   | Apr- 17   | May- 17   | Jun- 17   | Jul- 17   | Aug-17   | Sep- 17   | Oct- 17   | Nov- 17   | Dec- 17   | Jan-18   |
|---------------------------|-----------|-----------|----------|-----------|------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|----------|
| RTGS                      | 10,189    | 11,098    | 10,060   | 9,527     | 15,409     | 11,174    | 11,331    | 11,620    | 11,056    | 11,383   | 12,773    | 11,581    | 12,358    | 12,810    | 13,367   |
| EFT/NEFT                  | 881       | 1,154     | 1,136    | 1,088     | 1,629      | 1,216     | 1,241     | 1,269     | 1,201     | 1,250    | 1,418     | 1,385     | 1,388     | 1,578     | 1,537    |
| IMPS                      | 32        | 43        | 49       | 48        | 56         | 56        | 59        | 60        | 60        | 65       | 72        | 75        | 78        | 87        | 88       |
| Credit Card at PoS        | 27        | 31        | 33       | 29        | 33         | 33        | 36        | 35        | 34        | 36       | 37        | 42        | 39        | 42        | 41       |
| Debit Usage at PoS        | 32        | 58        | 49       | 36        | 36         | 37        | 37        | 38        | 35        | 35       | 37        | 41        | 37        | 41        | 41       |
| m-Wallet                  | 3.3       | 7.4       | 8.4      | 6.9       | 7.3        | 7.4       | 7.2       | 5.3       | 6.9       | 7.3      | 8.2       | 8.7       | 9.4       | 12.6      | 12.6     |
| PPI Cards                 | 1.5       | 2.1       | 2.4      | 2.5       | 3.1        | 2.7       | 3.3       | 3         | 2.7       | 2.9      | 2.6       | 2.9       | 3.8       | 1.6       | 2.1      |
| Mobile Banking            | 137       | 150       | 138      | 128       | 173        | 161       | 213       | 181       | 81        | 81       | 86        | 92        | 105       | 112       | 122      |
| UPI(Incl. BHIM/USSD)      | 0.1       | 0.7       | 1.7      | 1.9       | 2.4        | 2.3       | 2.8       | 3.1       | 3.4       | 4.2      | 5.3       | 7.1       | 9.7       | 13.2      | 15.6     |
| NACH                      | 68        | 70        | 60       | 65        | 90         | 97        | 76        | 81        | 84        | 82       | 71        | 99        | 94        | 81        | 82       |
| AEPS Total                | 0.1       | 0.2       | 0.3      | 0.4       | 0.6        | 0.8       | 1.2       | 1.3       | 1.4       | 1.7      | 2         | 2.5       | 2.6       | 2.6       | 3.3      |
| BBPS                      | 0         | 0         | 0        | 0         | 0          | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0.1      | 0.1       | 0.1       | 0.1       | 0.2       | 0.2      |
| NETC                      | -         | 0.1       | 0.2      | 0.2       | 0.2        | 0.2       | 0.2       | 0.2       | 0.2       | 0.3      | 0.3       | 0.3       | 0.3       | 0.3       | 0.3      |
| Total                     | 11,371    | 12,614    | 11,538   | 10,933    | 17,441     | 12,789    | 13,008    | 13,297    | 12,567    | 12,949   | 14,513    | 13,335    | 14,126    | 14,780    | 15,313   |

## Digital Payment Value (In Rs. thousand Crores)

## Annexure-II(a)

## The corresponding numbers for BHIM/ UPI are as follows-

## BHIM/UPI volume month on month in Cr.

| Mode of Digital Payment   |   Nov- 16 |   Dec- 16 |   Jan- 17 |   Feb- 17 |   Mar- 17 |   Apr- 17 |   May- 17 |   Jun- 17 |   Jul- 17 |   Aug- 17 |   Sep- 17 |   Oct- 17 |   Nov- 17 |   Dec- 17 |   Jan- 18 |
|---------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| BHIM/ UPI                 |         0 |       0.2 |       0.4 |       0.4 |       0.6 |       0.7 |       0.9 |         1 |       1.1 |       1.7 |       3.1 |       7.7 |      10.5 |      14.5 |      15.2 |

|   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |   Volume(In cr.) |
|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|
|                0 |              0.2 |              0.4 |              0.4 |              0.6 |              0.7 |              0.9 |                1 |              1.1 |              1.7 |              3.1 |              7.7 |             10.5 |             14.5 |             15.2 |

## BHIM/UPI value month on month in Cr

| Mode of Digital Payment   |   Nov -16 |   Dec- 16 |   Jan- 17 |   Feb- 17 |   Mar- 17 |   Apr- 17 |   May- 17 |   Jun- 17 |   Jul- 17 |   Aug- 17 |   Sep- 17 |   Oct -17 |   Nov- 17 |   Dec -17 |   Jan- 18 |
|---------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| BHIM/ UPI                 |       101 |       700 |      1659 |      1902 |      2391 |      2241 |      2765 |      3067 |      3381 |      4127 |      5293 |      7028 |      9641 |     13144 |     15542 |

|   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |   Value (In cr.) |
|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|
|              101 |              700 |             1659 |             1902 |             2391 |             2241 |             2765 |             3067 |             3381 |             4127 |             5293 |             7028 |             9641 |            13144 |            15542 |

## Guidelines & Circulars issued by RBI

Reserve  Bank  of  India  (RBI)  issues  the  regulations  related  to  cyber  security  guidelines  and  periodically reviews the cyber security developments and threats on an ongoing basis and necessary measures are taken to strengthen the cyber resilience of banks. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is taking adequate measures for Risk Mitigation for Online Payments .

Some of the measures taken by RBI are as follows-

1. A comprehensive circular on Cyber Security Framework in Banks issued on June 2, 2016 (DBS.CO/CSITE/BC.11/33.01.001/2015-16 ) covers best practices pertaining to various aspects of cyber security
1. RBI has also set up a Cyber Crisis Management Group to address any major incidents reported including suggesting ways to respond. Based on market intelligence and incidents reported by the banks, advisories are issued to the banks for sensitizing them about various threats and ensure prompt preventive/corrective action.
2. Department of Banking Supervision under RBI, with the help of Indian - Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), conducts cyber security preparedness testing among banks on the basis of hypothetical scenarios.
3. RBI issues Circulars/advisories to all Commercial Banks on phishing attacks and preventive / detective measures to tackle phishing attacks. Banks have also been following the same with their users.
4. RBI has set up a Cyber Security and IT Examination (CSITE) cell in 2015 and carries out Information Technology (IT) Examination of banks separately from the regular financial examination of the banks to assess their cyber resilience. The examination, inter-alia, evaluates the processes implemented by banks for security checks like Vulnerability Assessment (VA) / Penetration Testing (PT) etc. and their follow up action.
5. An inter-disciplinary Standing Committee on Cyber Security at RBI, reviews the threats inherent in the existing/emerging technology and suggests appropriate policy interventions to strengthen cyber security and resilience.
6. RBI has set up an Information Technology (IT) Subsidiary, which would focus, among other things, on cyber security within RBI as well as in regulated entities.
7. Banks  and  Payment  System  Operators  have  been  advised  to  enhance  the  security  and  risk  mitigation measures for (a) card transactions (includes card based online transactions) and (b) electronic payment transactions (includes e-banking transactions) by taking following measures:
- a) Banks have been advised to provide online alerts for  all  card transactions (card present and card  not  present),  vide,  RBI  circular  dated  February  18,  2009  (RBI  /  DPSS  No.  1501  / 02.14.003 / 2008-2009) and March 29, 2011 (DPSS. CO. PD 2224 /02.14.003/2010-2011).
- b) Banks have been advised, vide, circular February 18, 2009 (RBI / DPSS No. 1501 / 02.14.003 / 2008-2009) and December 31, 2010 (DPSS.CO.No.1503/02.14.003/2010-2011) to put in place a  system  of  providing additional  factor  of  authentication (2FA)  for  all  card  not  present transactions using the information which is not available on the card.
- c) Banks have also been advised vide circulars dated February 28, 2013 (DPSS (CO) PD No.1462 / 02.14.003 / 2012-13) and June 24, 2013 (DPSS (CO) PD No.2377 / 02.14.003 / 2012-13) for securing  electronic  (online  and  e-banking)  transactions,  to  introduce additional  security measures .
8. For Non-Bank Entities operating Payment Systems in India, in order to ensure that the technology deployed to operate the payment system/s authorised is/are being operated in a safe, secure, sound and efficient manner, RBI has, vide circulars DPSS.AD.No.1206 / 02.27.005 / 2009-2010 dated December 7, 2009 and DPSS.1444/ 06.11.001/ 2010-2011 dated December 27, 2010, which was subsequently amended vide circular DPSS.CO.OSD.No.2374 / 06.11.001 / 2010-2011 dated April 15, 2011 (copy is available on

https: // www.rbi.org.in/scripts/FS\_Notification.aspx?Id =6344&fn=9&Mode=0), mandated System Audit to  be  done  on  an  annual  basis  by  Certified  Information  Systems  Auditor  (CISA),  registered  with Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) or by a holder of a Diploma in Information System Audit (DISA) qualification of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

9. With a view to address the issue of cyber resilience, RBI had, vide circular DPSS.CO.OSD.No.1485/06.08.005/2016-17  dated  December  9,  2016  (copy  is  available  on  https  :// www. rbi.org.in /scripts/ FS\_Notification.aspx ?Id =10772&fn =9&Mode=0), instructed all authorised entities/ banks issuing PPIs in the country to carry out special audit by empanelled CERT-In auditors and take appropriate measures on mitigating phishing attacks.
2. In  addition,  details  of  direction  pertaining  to  security  for  PPI  transactions,  are  available  in  section 'Security, Fraud prevention and Risk Management Framework' of the Master Directions for PPI issued by RBI (DPSS.CO.PD.No.1164/02.14.006/2017-18).
10. Limited Liability of Customers: Guidelines on Limited liability of customers in Unauthorized Electronic Banking Transactions (RBI Circular Number  DBR.No.Leg.  BC.78/09.07.005/ 2017 -18 dated 06.07.2016) are available at the RBI website link: https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/notification/PDFs/NOTI15D620D2C4D2CA4A33AABC928CA 6204B19.PDF
11. RBI  has  issued  various  circulars  wherein  customer  banks  are  advised  to  educate  customers.  These circulars are as follows:
- a) Card Payments - Relaxation in requirement of Additional Factor of Authentication for small value card present transactions dated May 14, 2015 (DPSS.CO.PD.No.2163/02.14.003/2014-2015).
- b)     Cash Withdrawal at Point-of-Sale (POS) - Enhanced limit at Tier III to VI Centres dated August 27, 2015 (DPSS.CO.PD.No.449/02.14.003/2015-16).
- c)      Card Not Present transactions -Relaxation in Additional Factor of Authentication for payments upto 2000/for card network provided authentication solutions dated December 6, 2016 (DPSS.CO.PDNo.1431/02.14.003/2016-17).
- d)      Master  Direction  on  Issuance  &  Operation  of  Prepaid  Payment  Instruments  dated  October  11,  2017 (DPSS.CO.PD.No.1164/02.14.006/2017-18).
- e)      Banks have also been requested to educate customers about cyber security risks, as per the circular on Cyber Security Framework in Banks dated June 2, 2016 (DBS.CO/CSITE/BC.11/33.01.001/2015-16).

## Annexure-III(b)

## Steps taken by CERT-In to ensure safe and secure digital transactions

In addition, steps taken by Government to secure digital payment system are as under:

1. Government has formulated Cyber Crisis Management Plan for countering cyber-attacks for implementation  by  all  Ministries/  Departments  of  Central  Government,  State  Governments  and  their organizations and critical sectors.
2. CERT-In issues alerts and advisories regarding latest cyber threats/vulnerabilities along with countermeasures to create awareness among stakeholders to take appropriate measures to ensure safe usage of digital technologies. Regarding securing digital payments, 27 advisories have been issued for users and institutions.
3. CERT-In  has  empanelled  67  security  auditing  organizations  to  support  and  audit  implementation  of Information Security Best Practices.
4. All organizations providing digital payment services have been mandated to report cyber security incidents to CERT-In expeditiously.
5. Cyber security mock drills are being conducted regularly to enable assessment of cyber security posture and preparedness of organizations in Government and critical sectors. 25 such exercises have so far been conducted by CERT-In where organisations from different States and sectors such as Finance, Defence, Power, Telecom, Transport, Energy, Space, IT/ITeS, etc. participated.
6. Cyber security awareness sessions are conducted by Ministry of Electronics and Information technology (MeitY) under the Digishala Awareness Campaign.
7. Government has established Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre to detect and clean infected systems  in  the  country.  The  project  is  initiated  in  coordination  with  the  Internet  Service  Providers  and Industry.
8. MeitY  has  organised  2  workshops  for  banks,  Internet  Service  Providers  (ISPs)  and  Prepaid  Payment Instruments (PPIs) issuing entities regarding security of digital payments systems.
9. Government has issued general guidelines for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) for securing applications  and  infrastructure  and  their  key  roles  and  responsibilities  for  compliance;  and  is  regularly conducting cyber security trainings for CISOs of Government and critical sector organisations, in addition to  Information  Technology  (IT)  /  cyber  security  professionals,  to  give  an  exposure  on  current  threat landscape and countermeasures.

Annexure-IV

Measures  taken/being  taken  to  incentivize  digital  transactions  and  promote  digital  economy/literacy, especially in rural regions of the country

The incentives being offered by Ministries / Departments including MeitY are as below:

- I.   Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)
- i)    On 14th April 2017, Government of India introduced the following promotional schemes to encourage the usage of digital payments (through BHIM and *99#) at the grass root level.
- a) BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) Referral Bonus Scheme for Individuals

This scheme is to incentivize an existing users of BHIM to bring new users on the BHIM platform. The bonus  will  be  paid  to  both  the  referrer  and  the  new  user  of  BHIM  (referee).  The  referral  will  be considered successful on completion of minimum 3 unique successful financial transactions totaling to Rs 50 (to the valid UPI user - 'valid receiver') performed by the referee.

- b) BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) Cashback Scheme for Merchants

The scheme is to incentivize users for receiving payments on BHIM App or *99# from their customers. The merchant will receive cash back on completion of minimum 50 credit transactions of which at least 20 transactions is from valid UPI unique customers including that of BHIM users

- c) BHIM Aadhaar Merchant Incentive Scheme

The scheme aims to incentivize not just one-time adoption of BHIM Aadhaar by merchants, but should also  increase  the  ease  of  transactions  for  all  citizens  as  it  uses  the  means  of  Aadhaar  for  digital transactions. The objective of the scheme are twofold, viz:

-  Increase in number of merchants registered on BHIM Aadhaar
-  Increase in number of payment transactions using BHIM Aadhaar
- ii)  MeitY issued a Gazette Notification dated 28 th December 2017 regarding reimbursement of MDR charges on  Debit  Cards/BHIM  UPI/AePS  transactions  of  value  less  than  or  equal  to  Rs.  2000.00  to  promote  digital transactions.

Additionally, MeitY has requested all other Ministries/Departments to start incentivizing digital payments by offering visible discount on digital payment vis-à-vis cash.

## II.     Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH)

MoRTH is offering incentive of 7.5% to toll road users on electronically paid fee for the FY 2017-18. 5% for 2018-19 and 2.5% in 2019-20.

## III.    Ministry of Railways

- i. Provision of 5% discount in online payment of booking of Retiring Room etc.
- ii. Withdrawal of service charge of Rs. 30 applicable against Credit and Debit cards for purchasing journey tickets at UTS and PRS counters.
- iii. Exemption on payment of service charge on e-ticket /i-ticket extended till 31 st March 2018 or review of the exemption if advised earlier.
- iv. Discount of 0.5% to customers of suburban section on booking of season tickets till 31 st March 2018 or any change whichever is earlier.
- v. Provision of 5% discount for digital payment of catering services on IR.
- vi. Extension  of  free  cost  of  accidental  insurance  cover  of  upto  Rs  10  lakh  to  confirmed/RAC  Railway passengers buying their journey tickets online through IRCTC.

## IV.   Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas

- i. (0.75  %)  discount  is  being  given  to  consumer  on  the  purchase  of  fuel  at  the  Petrol  Pumps  of  the  Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). The discount is being given in the form of cash back in the bank account of the consumers.
- ii. MDR or any other charges on all debit card transactions at the Retail outlets is not levied to either Dealers or Customers. MDR for debit card transactions are being settled by the OMCs to Banks on the debit cards transactions w.e.f. 16.01.2017.
- iii. OMCs are offering an incentive of Rs.5/- (i.e. an upfront discount of Rs.5/-) on each online refill of LPG payment made by a consumer through credit/debit cards or internet banking w.e.f. 01.01.2017.
- iv. Loyalty programs are currently being run by all OMCs that provide earning of loyalty points on purchase of fuel.

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