Cabinet Approved Scheme to Promote RuPay Debit Cards and BHIM-UPI

The Union Cabinet approved a scheme to promote RuPay debit cards and low-value BHIM-UPI transactions. The Cabinet approved the scheme for the financial year 2022-23 with a total financial outlay of Rs.2,600 crore. 

Under this scheme, incentives will be provided for using RuPay debit cards and low-value person-to-merchant BHIM-UPI transactions. A release issued by the government stated that under the scheme, the acquiring banks would be provided with financial incentives to promote e-commerce and Point-of-Sale (PoS) transactions for the current financial year 2022-23. 

The scheme’s benefits include building a robust digital payment ecosystem and promoting UPI 123Pay and UPI Lite as user-friendly and economical digital payment options. It will also help take the digital payment system to the MSMEs, unorganised sectors and farmers.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) sought to incentivise BHIM-UPI and RuPay debit card transactions to create a cost-effective value proposition for stakeholders. It sought to increase faster migration from cash payments to digital payments and merchant acceptance footprints.

This scheme is in line with the Finance Minister’s Budget 2022 speech announcement, reiterating the government’s intention to provide financial support for digital payments. In December 2022, digital payment transactions through UPI recorded a high of Rs.782.9 crore, valuing Rs.12.82 lakh crore.

BHIM-UPI transactions recorded a year-on-year growth of 106%, rising to Rs.4,597 crore in FY 2021-22 from Rs.2,233 crore in FY 2020-21. Total digital payments transactions registered a year-on-year growth of 59%, rising to Rs.8,840 crore in FY 2021-22 from Rs.5,554 crore in FY 2020-21.

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