Budget to boost digital payments; Know what Nirmala Sitharaman said about digital payment ecosystem

Nirmala Sitharaman said, "India’s first indigenously developed payment ecosystem for transport, based on National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) standards, was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister on March 2019. This will enable people to pay multiple kinds of transport charges, including metro services and toll tax, across the country. This inter-operable transport card runs on RuPay card and would allow the holders to pay for their bus travel, toll taxes, parking charges, retail shopping and even withdraw money."

Reacting to the Budget 2019 proposals, Saurabh Gadgil, CMD, PNG Jewellers; Director and National Vice President, IBJA said Zee Business Online that, "The push for digitalisation and the shift to a cashless economy will strengthen the hand of organised players in the industry, creating transparency and positively impact market sentiment."

Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), said Zee Business Online that, “The Budget confirms the government’s continuous focus on digital payments and will aid to create a robust payment infrastructure in the country. Adoption of RuPay National Common Mobility card (NCMC) shall trigger the consumer behaviour change for all the transit use cases"

Asbe believes that "The budget facilitates the transformation of the Indian economy from Cash driven to less-cash. We believe, with all the efforts from the government and RBI, India could emerge as a world leader and innovation hub for digital payments in next 5 years.”