“This is a great boon for us to disburse pension for senior citizens. We are able to give it at their house and they don’t need any paperwork nor do they have to walk,” says Ritesh Singh, a business correspondent of Corporation Bank pointing to the digital device with an alphanumeric keyboard and a biometric sensor. “But there is a hitch. It is working very well in cities, but in a few rural areas, there is a problem with weak signal. Sometimes it’s taking more time to complete transactions,” he says about the device which uses a SIM card for accessing bank network. As the go-digital juggernaut rolls on in the country, the key hurdles seem to be Internet signal strength in rural areas and the supply of devices, many of which are made in China and are in short supply. The devices being used to disburse cash range from PoS machines with biometric readers to small handheld devices which need apps and robust signal strength for completing transactions. “Traders can make transactions using this and they can disburse cash as well as make deposits,” says K. Praveen of IDBI Bank, pointing to a calculator-sized device which bears the brand Mosambee and is manufactured in China. While the multiplicity of devices and methods of transactions are mindboggling, the hurdle remains paucity of hardware.
City-based Visiontek has supplied 1,645 smart devices for identifying and disbursing rations at fair price shops in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and a few other districts. According to sources, there are 24,914 FP shops in the State which works out to be 6.6 % of the total number. “One member of the family having ration card can buy rations for the family and each transaction takes about two minutes,” says Kiran Kumar of Visontek.
The hitch with cashless transactions using biometric identification is the fact that individuals have to have a bank account linked to Aadhaar details. “The biometric device works only if the Aadhaar number is linked to the bank account. Among the problems many of our staff in rural areas face is the weak signal strength as there are fewer cellphone towers,” says a bank official.
Nasscom, the apex body of software companies, has also pitched in to create awareness about cashless transactions by setting up a helpline (14444) to answer queries about software glitches. “Yes. We know there are issues about hardware-level safety and we are working with the government to find a solution. At the moment, the project is under wraps,” informs a Nasscom spokesperson.
