Snags in digital channels due to surge in enquiries by anxious daily wagers: Report

The nationwide lockdown has caused immense financial stress to the weaker sections of the society.

The Centre and state governments have been looking at ways to alleviate their stress by sending money directly to their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.

Anxious to find out if the government aid has reached them, lakhs of daily wagers and farm labourers have been enquiring about their account balance daily. Bankers and payments operators have claimed that this sudden increase in enquiries has ended up choking digital channels, according to a report in The Economic Times.

Track this blog for latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak

Moreover, a high rate (nearly 45 percent) of transaction failure has been reported by those using the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS), which, in turn, has piled up credit reversals with banks.

To contain the surge in balance enquiry, the CSC has recommended the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) that a Rs 5 charge be imposed for requests, Tyagi informed.

Also Read: How the lockdown affects different classes

Notably, there are more than 3,70,000 Common Service Centres in India; these digital kiosks are spread across the country, with a higher concentration in the rural reaches. About 25,000 of these CSCs have facilities for the withdrawal of government subsidies transferred directly to bank accounts under various welfare schemes such as the PM-KISAN Yojana and the PM Ujjwala scheme.

Also Read: Medlife launches at-home COVID-19 testing in select cities

The AePS platforms, one of the primary routes of the government's direct benefit transfers (DBT), have been channelling cash aid to senior citizens, poor women, and farmers amid the lockdown. However, this channel also has seen an unprecedented surge in queries, especially due to the high AePS failure rates.

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak here