In a bid to ramp up the use of e-wallets and other forms of electronic transfer of funds, the district administration in association with banks will conduct a special drive and hold camps on e-transactions later this month. The date will be announced later.
This was announced by Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep following the suggestion of Pratap Simha, MP, that the district should now make efforts to go digital. At an interaction here on Monday, the MP said Mysuru was also a major tourist centre and should thus go digital in all respects and be a role model for others, given its strong network of financial institutions.
The suggestion was to encourage transport providers, including autorickshaw and cab drivers, to opt for e-wallets. The MP said all banks should conduct awareness camps on the benefits and the means of going digital. At the camps, the banks can also link Aadhaar numbers with savings accounts, he said.
It was also decided to work with the hospitality sector and encourage them to go for for e-wallets and accept card payments. It was suggested that a bank branch with an ATM be established in each village or gram panchayat with a population of 5,000 or above.
Lead bank manager K.N. Shivalingaiah said there are 733 ATMs and 512 bank branches in the district, among the highest in the State. Besides, more than 90 per cent of the population was covered by banking services and the Jan Dhan drive last year. About 2.75 lakh RuPay cards have also been distributed in the district, and they could be activated to enable people to switch from cash to card, he said. The demand for Point of Sale machines among merchants has also increased, indicating that the shift to digital transactions is gaining momentum, he added.
