The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is working with the Indian Banks' Association to create a network of 14 lakh micro ATMs across the country. While the banks will authorize the transaction, the authentication will be done by UIDAI by biometric association with its database
The UIDAI is also considering giving unbanked citizens the option to receive a pre-paid payment card issued by banks which can be used for channeling payments from government schemes, including National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
"The plan is to have at least two micro-ATMs in every village, which means that there will have to be at least 14 lakh of them," said A P Singh, deputy director-general, UIDAI, while speaking at a Prepaid International Forum event on Thursday. He said that every UIDAI registrant is presently given the option to open a bank account. "We plan to give them the additional option to receive a payment card which can be used for electronic transactions," he said.
According to Singh, the cards could be used for transactions in Aadhaar-enabled micro ATMs. The micro-ATMs will be more like point-of-sales terminals which will read cards and communicate with the bank's core banking system and the Aadhaar biometric database. According to Kusal Roy, head of cards and personal loans at ICICI Bank, the pre-paid cards could be used for micro-payment transactions and would have a different charge structure compared to regular credit and debit cards.
The micro-ATMs, which are to be deployed by banks, will be manned by business correspondents appointed by banks. These business correspondents will act as mini bank branches by accepting deposits, enabling withdrawals, fund transfer from Aadhaar-to-Aadhaar accounts and providing statement of transactions. The connectivity will be provided by the Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AEPS) - a new electronic payment network jointly promoted by the National Payment Corporation of India with the UIDAI. Over 60 banks have registered to be part of this network.
Speaking at a FICCI-IBA summit on Thursday, RBI deputy governor HR Khan had said that NPCI has been advised to introduce RuPay cards under the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS). "Four banks have started using the RuPay card. These include: Kashi Gomati Gramin Bank, Bank of India DhanAdhar Card, The Gopinath Patil Parsik Janata Sahkari Bank Ltd, and NKGSB Urban Co Op Bank Ltd,"
UIDAI, along with NPCI, has already piloted Aadhaar-enabled Payment System in Jharkhand. Basic transactions permissible over these accounts include cash deposit, cash withdrawal, balance enquiry, and inter-bank money transfer. This system also envisages creation of an Aadhaar-enabled payment bridge which would facilitate direct disbursement of government benefits to the beneficiary by credit to their bank accounts using Aadhaar.
RBI move to help cash flow in emergencies
To ensure that ATMs do not run dry during a banking strike or during a natural calamity, RBI has said that it will open a cash window during such events. To avail of cash, banks will have to authorize RBI in the form of a standing instruction to debit their current accounts with RBI for handing over the cash to the outsourced cash handling agency appointed by them. RBI will allow one bank to withdraw a maximum of Rs 10 crore, but if additional cash is required a bank may approach RBI more than once in a day.
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