Lok Sabha Question No. 33 (STARRED), answered on 2025-02-04
Subject: Digital Payments for Development Work
Ministry: PANCHAYATI RAJ
Asked by: Shri Y S Avinash Reddy

## GOVERNMENTOF INDIA MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.33

ANSWERED ON 04.02.2025

## DIGITALPAYMENTS FOR DEVELOPMENT WORK

## 33. SHRI Y.S. AVINASH REDDY:

Will the Minister of PANCHAYATI RAJ be pleased to State:

(a) whether the Government is taking steps that all panchayats in the country will mandatorily use digital payments for development work and revenue collection and they will be declared Unified Payments Interface (UPI) enabled, if so, the details thereof, Statewise particularly in Andhra Pradesh;

(b) whether it is a fact that ninety eight percent of the panchayats had already started UPI based payments and payments to panchayats will now be made digitally and payments in cheques and cash have almost been stopped and if so, the details and present status thereof;

(c) whether the Government has issued any directions/advisory to panchayats since 2014 to hold meetings with service providers and vendors and task has been given to panchayats to choose appropriate service providers and finalise vendors, if so, the details thereof; and

(d) whether panchayats have also been directed to choose a single vendor which covers the whole area and if so, the details thereof and progress made in this regard so far?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ

## (SHRI RAJIV RANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH)

(a) & (b) In consonance with the vision of Digital India, Ministry has launched eGramSwaraj, an accounting application to simplify work of the Panchayats, including planning, accounting and budgeting. Further, to ensure better financial management of PRIs for enhancing transparency & accountability in maintenance of accounts, the eGramSwaraj has been integrated with Public Finance Management System (PFMS) to enable the Panchayats to make real time online payments to the vendors/service providers. The progress made under eGramSwaraj including Andhra Pradesh for the year 2024-25 is given at Annexure-I . Further, Ministry has been encouraging the adoption of online payment methods, including the UPI-based digital payment methods in the Panchayati Raj Institutions for revenue collection as well as for collection of fees for the Services delivered by the respective Panchayats across States/UTs. In the case of Andhra Pradesh, it has been reported by the State that all the Gram Panchayats have been made UPI-enabled. Rollout status as received from the States/UTs, including Andhra Pradesh, may be seen at Annexure-II.

(c) & (d) The States/ UTs have been advised to utilize/ leverage the services of authorized

Payment Service Providers, Payment Banks, and Third-Party Payment Applications (TPAPs) recognized by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for deployment of UPI based solutions in the Panchayats. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has also been requested to extend requisite technical/ handholding support to the State Panchayati Raj Departments/ Panchayats with the UPI rollout through their State teams.

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## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) & (b) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 33 answered on 04.02.2025 regarding 'Digital Payments for Development Work'.

## Adoption of eGramSwaraj at Panchayat level during FY 2024-25

|   S . N o | State Name          |   Total Numb er of Villag e Panch ayats & Equiv alent |   Villa ge Panc hayat onbo ard |   Villag e Panch ayats & Equiv alent with Onlin e Paym ent |   Total Numb er of Block Panch ayats |   Block Panc hayat onbo ard |   Block Panch ayats with Onlin e Paym ent |   Total Numb er of Zila Panch ayats |   Zila Panc hayat onbo ard |   Zila Panch ayats with Onlin e Paym ent |
|-----------|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|----------------------------|------------------------------------------|
|         1 | ANDHRA PRADES H     |                                                 13328 |                          13296 |                                                      12907 |                                  660 |                         660 |                                       639 |                                  13 |                         13 |                                       13 |
|         2 | ARUNAC HAL PRADES H |                                                  2108 |                           2106 |                                                        185 |                                    0 |                           0 |                                         0 |                                  25 |                         25 |                                        7 |
|         3 | ASSAM               |                                                  2662 |                           2197 |                                                       2170 |                                  191 |                         191 |                                       185 |                                  30 |                         29 |                                       27 |
|         4 | BIHAR               |                                                  8054 |                           8054 |                                                       8044 |                                  534 |                         534 |                                       529 |                                  38 |                         38 |                                       38 |
|         5 | CHHATTI SGARH       |                                                 11596 |                          11594 |                                                      11503 |                                  146 |                         146 |                                       146 |                                  27 |                         27 |                                       27 |
|         6 | GOA                 |                                                   191 |                            191 |                                                         89 |                                    0 |                           0 |                                         0 |                                   2 |                          2 |                                        2 |
|         7 | GUJARA T            |                                                 14656 |                          14594 |                                                      13666 |                                  248 |                         248 |                                       248 |                                  33 |                         33 |                                       33 |
|         8 | HARYAN A            |                                                  6225 |                           6221 |                                                       5829 |                                  143 |                         143 |                                       131 |                                  22 |                         22 |                                       22 |
|         9 | HIMACH AL PRADES H  |                                                  3615 |                           3614 |                                                       3509 |                                   81 |                          81 |                                        80 |                                  12 |                         12 |                                       12 |
|        10 | JHARKH AND          |                                                  4345 |                           4345 |                                                       4317 |                                  264 |                         264 |                                       262 |                                  24 |                         24 |                                       23 |
|        11 | KARNAT AKA          |                                                  5954 |                           5954 |                                                       5935 |                                  238 |                         232 |                                       117 |                                  31 |                         31 |                                       28 |
|        12 | KERALA              |                                                   941 |                            941 |                                                        940 |                                  152 |                         152 |                                       152 |                                  14 |                         14 |                                       14 |
|        13 | MADHY A PRADES H    |                                                 23011 |                          23009 |                                                      22973 |                                  313 |                         313 |                                       310 |                                  52 |                         52 |                                       52 |

| 14    | MAHAR ASHTRA   |   27911 |   27834 |   26268 |   351 |   351 |   302 |   34 |   34 |   34 |
|-------|----------------|---------|---------|---------|-------|-------|-------|------|------|------|
| 15    | MANIPU R       |    3180 |     161 |     120 |     0 |     0 |     0 |   12 |    6 |    4 |
| 16    | MEGHAL AYA     |    6817 |       0 |       0 |  2241 |     0 |     0 |    3 |    3 |    0 |
| 17    | MIZORA M       |     842 |     842 |     832 |     0 |     0 |     0 |    0 |    0 |    0 |
| 18    | NAGALA ND      |    1289 |     186 |       0 |     0 |     0 |     0 |    0 |    0 |    0 |
| 19    | ODISHA         |    6794 |    6794 |    6792 |   314 |   314 |   314 |   30 |   30 |   30 |
| 20    | PUNJAB         |   13237 |   13222 |    9173 |   152 |   151 |   110 |   22 |   22 |   19 |
| 21    | RAJAST HAN     |   11211 |   11206 |   10739 |   361 |   353 |   351 |   33 |   33 |   33 |
| 22    | SIKKIM         |     199 |     199 |     194 |     0 |     0 |     0 |    6 |    6 |    6 |
| 23    | TAMIL NADU     |   12525 |   12525 |   12518 |   388 |   388 |   388 |   36 |   36 |   36 |
| 24    | TELANG ANA     |   12771 |   12768 |   12628 |   540 |   540 |   498 |   32 |   32 |   32 |
| 25    | TRIPURA        |    1194 |    1176 |    1162 |    75 |    75 |    75 |    9 |    9 |    8 |
| 26    | UTTARA KHAND   |    7795 |    7794 |    7729 |    95 |    95 |    95 |   13 |   13 |   13 |
| 27    | UTTAR PRADES H |   57691 |   57691 |   57596 |   826 |   826 |   821 |   75 |   75 |   75 |
| 28    | WEST BENGAL    |    3339 |    3339 |    3338 |   345 |   345 |   345 |   22 |   21 |   21 |
| Total | Total          |  263481 |  251853 |  241156 |  8658 |  6402 |  6098 |  650 |  642 |  609 |

## Annexure-II

Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) & (b) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 33 answered on 04.02.2025 regarding 'Digital Payments for Development Work'.

## UPI rollout: State-wise Status

|   S. No. | State Name        | Meeting with Service Providers   | Selection Vendor                                          | of Rollout of UPI                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|----------|-------------------|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh    | Conducted                        | Finalised                                                 |  UPI based Revenue Collection system has been launched in all Gram Panchayats of Andhra Pradesh. The SBI, UBI, HDFC and IDBI banks have been onboarded for UPI & QR-based payment from 15.08.2023 onwards. The status of is as follows. No. of GPs:- 13325 No. of GPs where UPI is enabled: 13325 No. of PoS machines positioned: 5032  In some Gram Panchayats located in hilly/forest/tribal areas where the signals/connectivity is not yet established the revenue collection is being done through cash. |
|        2 | Arunachal Pradesh | Conducted                        | Finalised                                                 |  SBI has been appointed for UPI enablement  Zila Panchayat has been UPI enabled, GPs UPI enablement is in progress                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|        3 | Assam             | Conducted                        | Finalised                                                 |  Panchayats were instructed to obtain QR code from respective Banks and display them in the offices  2147 Panchayats are UPI enabled in Assam                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|        4 | Bihar             | Conducted                        | Bank / Service provider finalization is still in progress |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|        5 | Chhattisgarh      | Conducted                        | Bank / Service provider finalization is still in progress |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|        6 | Goa               | Conducted                        | In Progress                                               |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|        7 | Gujarat           | Conducted                        | All GPS have their local bank                             | 14181 Gram Panchayat are enabled with QR code powered by the local bank that                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |

|     |                          |                     | QR code in place.GP                                          | is implemented since last 6 month.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
|-----|--------------------------|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 8 9 | Haryana Himachal Pradesh | Conducted Conducted | In Progress Bank / Service provider finalization in progress |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| 10  | Jharkhand                | Conducted           | Bank / Service provider finalization in progress             | Unified Payment Interface (UPI) enabled payment yet to be implemented                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| 11  | Karnataka                | Conducted           | Finalised                                                    |  PoS Devices are provided to all the Gram Panchayats of Karnataka  Gram Panchayats of Karnataka are on-boarded as Billers under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)  100% of GPs have been UPI Enabled.                                                                                                                                                    |
| 12  | Kerala                   | Conducted           | Finalised                                                    |  100% GPs have adopted UPI based                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| 13  | Madhya Pradesh           | Conducted           | Finalised                                                    | Payments  All GPs have been UPI enabled. Each GP's QR/VPA is uploaded in the public domain to get tax/fees from citizens.  State is in the final stage to rollout UniPay developed by MPSEDC in association with NSDL for all online payment instruments.  Necessary instruction has been issued about not collecting cash or cheque to all Gram Panchayats. |
| 14  | Maharashtra              | Conducted           | Finalized                                                    |  22509 GPs have been UPI enabled.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| 15  | Manipur                  |                     |                                                              |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| 16  | Meghalaya                |                     |                                                              |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| 17  | Mizoram                  | Conducted           | Finalization of service provider is in progress.             | NIL                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| 18  | Nagaland                 | NIL                 | NIL                                                          | NIL                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| 19  | Odisha                   | Conducted           | Finalized                                                    | Panchayats are collecting OSR through UPI                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| 20  | Punjab                   | Conducted           | Finalisation of service provider is in progress              |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| 21  | Rajasthan                | Conducted           | Finalisation of service provider is in progress              |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| 22  | Sikkim                   | Conducted           | Local Banks have been informed for UPI                       |  100% completed                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |

|    |                 | enablement       |                                                                             |                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|----|-----------------|------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 23 | Tamil Nadu      | Conducted        | Finalized                                                                   |  In Tamil Nadu, all village panchayats' tax collections are collected through online payment methods, including UPI, debit cards, credit cards, internet banking, and PoS machines. |
| 24 | Telangana       | Conducted        | Finalized                                                                   |  State Application already allows for UPI based payments                                                                                                                            |
| 25 | Tripura         | Conducted        | Finalized                                                                   |  All Rural Local Bodies are UPI enabled                                                                                                                                             |
| 26 | Uttarakhand     | Conducted        | Finalized                                                                   |  All Panchayats are UPI Enabled                                                                                                                                                     |
| 27 | Uttar           | PradeshConducted | Finalized                                                                   |  All Panchayats are UPI-enabled for accepting digital payments.                                                                                                                     |
| 28 | West Bengal     | Conducted        | PhonePe has been selected as Service Provider for UPI based payment system. |  259 GPs out of 3339 GPs are UPI enabled till date.                                                                                                                                 |
| 29 | Jammu & Kashmir | Conducted        | In Progress                                                                 |                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| 30 | Ladakh          | NIL              | NIL                                                                         | NIL                                                                                                                                                                                  |

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