Recent years have seen a technological advancement in the way Indians are making payments. Digital payments transactions have been consistently increasing over the last few years.
The key enabler at the centre of India’s transformed digital payment landscape is the JAM Trinity – Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile.
Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is one of the biggest financial inclusion initiatives in the world, launched in August 2014, to provide universal banking services for every unbanked household.
One of the major objectives of Digital India is to achieve ‘Faceless, Paperless, Cashless’ status. The promotion of digital payments has been accorded the highest priority by the government to bring each and every segment of the country under the formal fold of digital payment services.
The financial technology (fintech) industry is hoping to get further push from the budget 2023 in order to move ahead and increase the network of digital payments.
Suresh Rajagopalan, CEO, Wibmo (A PayU Company), said that the budget 2023 should provide incentives for MSMEs for the adoption of digital payments in tier 3 towns and beyond.
“We expect further digital infrastructure push from the government to make India a cash-free economy,” Rajagopalan urged.
Budget 2023 Expectations LIVE News Updates: Extension of Affordable Housing Sops on Homebuyers’ Wishlist
Rajagopalan added that the government should give further push for the adoption of prepaid instruments for reaching out to the financially underserved and the underbanked.
Akash Sinha, co-founder and CEO, Cashfree Payments highlighted that the regulations laid by the RBI for the Indian fintech ecosystem has made India one of the most favourable markets for fintech organisations across the globe.
The Budget holds high importance as the Indian fintech ecosystem is at the cusp of expansion, both within the country and internationally.
“More offline digital payments products, such as UPI 123 and UPI Lite, should be introduced to aid digital penetration in semi-urban and rural regions of India. Offline digital products offer tremendous relief to consumers in these areas who face traditional barriers to entry, such as lack of reliable infrastructure and slower devices,” Sinha urged.
Sinha also urged that the budget should also focus on increasing the acceptance of homegrown payment solutions in more geographies, increasing cross border transactions.
Boost MSMEs through promoting adoption of digital infrastructure, Sinha urged, adding that while India’s MSME sector is enormous and plays a significant role in the country’s GDP, a hurdle to this sector’s long term development is the inability to embrace the right technology solutions.
“Access to digital banking, lending, collections, and other fintech products can transform the MSME sector, providing additional crucial employment opportunities and boost this sector’s contribution to India’s GDP,” Sinha said.
Vineet Singh, co-founder and CEO of Castler underlined that India has wholeheartedly embraced digital payments, and as it pushes for a cashless economy, there is a need to promote services that can help build a secure digital transacting ecosystem.
“One such service that needs attention in the upcoming budget is Digital Escrow which can play a pivotal role in building trust in digital payments for various use cases,” Singh added.
Singh is expecting that the union budget will bring measures to ease the financial burden on startups, like reducing taxes with no GST until Rs 10 crore turnover annually and introducing greater tax breaks for depreciation on fixed assets, reducing angel tax to promote seed stage investments and doing away with dual taxation on ESOPs.
Rajagopalan is also expecting the government to actively promote digital banks and build a digital banking regime, helping fintech players offer their tech platforms to build optimal credit products and offer best-in-class customer experience.
With the rise in digital payments, payment fraud has also expanded at a rapid pace. Experts suggested that the budget should include regulations that would curb the menace of digital frauds, including mandatory adoption of fraud management solutions.
The Budget for financial year 2023-24 will be presented on February 1, 2023, by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Read all the Latest Business News here
Comments
0 comment