Chennai: The RBI has decided to create a fund to increase adoption of digital payment systems, including card payments, in tier III cities and beyond. This will support both cashless payments as well as e-commerce. Banks will also identify one district in each state or union territory to make it 100 per cent digitally enabled, on a pilot basis.

“In order to increase digitisation in tier III to tier VI centres through wider acceptance infrastructure, and as indicated in the Payment System Vision Document 2021 of RBI and also recommended by the Committee on Deepening of Digital Payments, it has been decided to create an Acceptance Development Fund (ADF),” RBI said on Friday.

RBI in its vision document released in May had stressed the need for” increased deployment of card acceptance infrastructure across the country including at smaller centres with a substantial portion of the infrastructure taking care of processing contactless card payments. Given the current growth trend it is expected to have 5 million active Point of Sale (PoS) by end 2021…  and the total card acceptance infrastructure will be up-scaled to six times from present levels by end 2021. This is expected to support aim of cash-lite economy and also shift Cash on Delivery (CoD) transactions to digital modes for e-commerce
The ADF will augment the creation of card payment as well as digital infrastructure.

Further, to expand and deepen the digital payments ecosystem, RBI has decided that State/UT Level Bankers Committees (SLBCs/ UTLBCs) shall identify one district per State/UT on a pilot basis in consultation with banks and stakeholders to make it 100 per cent digitally enabled. The identified district may be allocated to a bank with significant footprint in that district. This would enable every individual in the pilot district to make/receive payments digitally in a safe, secure, quick, affordable and convenient manner.

RBI also announced measures to make NEFT more efficient.