Lok Sabha Question No. 2225 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-04
Subject: BHIM Application
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Kirit Premjibhai Solanki

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2225

TO BE ANSWERED ON:  04.03.2020

## BHIM APPLICATION

## 2225:    DR. (PROF.) KIRIT PREMJIBHAI SOLANKI:

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

- (a)   the steps taken/being taken by the Government for encouragement of the use of State-run Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) application for digital payment system;
- (b)      whether  Government has taken any steps to improve the infrastructure of BHIM-UPI digital payment platforms;
- (c)   if so, the details thereof;
- (d)   if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (e)   the number of transactions undertaken using this BHIM-UPI interface during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

(a):   In order to promote Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app, the following steps have been taken by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY):

-  Government  issued  advisories  to  Central  Ministries/Departments  and  States/UTs  to improve payments acceptance infrastructure and thereby enable the citizens to pay by a variety of modes such as Internet banking, mobile banking, and mobile applications etc. including use of BHIM app.
-  Government launched the scheme titled  'Pradhan  Mantri  Gramin  Digital  Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA)' to usher in digital literacy in rural India. Special focus of the said Scheme is on training the beneficiaries on use of Electronic Payment Systems. The outcome measurement criteria include undertaking at least 5 electronic payments transactions by each beneficiary using UPI including BHIM app, USSD, PoS, AEPS, Cards,  Internet  Banking.  Presently,  more  than  3.46  crore  candidates  have  been enrolled and around 2.82 crore have been trained, out of which more than 2.07 crore candidates have been certified under the PMGDISHA Scheme.
-  Awareness campaigns were organized in the Capital Cities of North East to promote digital payments including BHIM app. MeitY also ran Newspaper campaigns, Digital Theatre Campaigns, FM Radio campaigns and hoarding campaigns to promote BHIM app.
-  Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) applicable on Debit Card/BHIM UPI/Aadhaar-Pay transactions less than or equal to Rs. 2000/- in value was reimbursed to banks for a period of two years with effect from 1st January, 2018.
-  In  order  to  make  BHIM  app  more  effective  under  BHIM  2.0,  the  following  new features  such  as  offers,  donations,  support  for  multiple  accounts,  local  language

support and limit enhancement etc have been incorporated alongwith enhancements in existing features

- (b): Yes, Sir.
- (c):      In  order  to  improve  the  infrastructure  of  BHIM-UPI  digital  payment  platforms,  the following steps have been taken:
-  Ministry is  constantly  monitoring  the  growth  of  Digital  payments  over  BHIMUPI platform including success rate of digital transactions so as to take necessary action.
-  Ministry is also coordinating with Banks and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to ensure proper uptime of BHIM-UPI switch and to upgrade server capacities to meet the increased transaction load.
-  Ministry is coordinating with Central Ministries/Departments and States/UTs to enable all customer touch points with digital payment options including BHIMUPI
-  In order to increase digital payments, targets regarding acceptance infrastructure at merchant end are assigned to Banks and monitored
-  BHIM-UPI  platform  has  shown  transaction  growth  of  589%  in  F.Y  18-19 (539.15 crore) as compared to F.Y 17-18 (91.52 crore). BHIM-UPI currently has 144 member Banks offering this service to their customers
- (d):    In view of  (c)above, does not arise.
- (e):    State/UT-wise transaction details are not maintained, however total number of Digital transactions over BHIM-UPI platform undertaken in the country during the last three years and the current year is as under:

| Financial Year (FY)        | Total Digital Transactions over BHIM-UPI platform   |
|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| FY 2016-17                 | 1.70 crore                                          |
| FY 2017-18                 | 90.30 crore                                         |
| FY 2018-19                 | 539.15 crore                                        |
| FY 2019-20 (till Jan 2020) | 994.60 crore                                        |

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