INDIA POST PAYMENTS BANK- A STEP TOWARDS DIGITAL INDIA

The Government of India led by Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi has recently inaugurated the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) on 01.09.2018, set up as a public sector company under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication, with 100% equity held by the Government. IPPB aims to provide every household in India access to efficient banking and financial services so that they become financially secure and empowered. IPPB would be set up across all parts of the country covering all post offices. In the first phase of its launch, around 650 branches of IPPB have been planned to be set up, i.e. with one IPPB in each district, and around 3,250 existing post offices have been planned to be activated as banking access points. It also aims to provide doorstep banking services (at a nominal price) by deploying more than 10,000 postmen for that purpose. This would become possible because of the vast network of the Department of Posts in India.

The various banking and financial services to be provided by IPPB are as follows:

Savings and current account deposits,

Money transfer,

Government social welfare benefit schemes,

Loans, insurance, investments, post office saving schemes,

Utility and bill payments including mobile recharge, electricity bill payment, etc

Digital mode of payment during e-commerce transactions, etc.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had issued licence in 2017 to IPPB Limited to commence its operations in India as a payments bank.

The launch of IPPB aims to create transparency, remove corruption and contribute to a cashless or less-cash economy. This is the main object of the Digital India campaign launched by the Government in 2015 i.e. to widen the network of internet connectivity in India and make available electronic mode of delivery of Government services in India. Since after the demonetization phase in 2016, people have been increasingly resorting to electronic transactions, online transfer of money and thereby, limiting the use of paper money. In this way there is lesser scope of generation of black money in the economy as there is transparency in the transactions being executed.

IPPB aims to reach every corner of the country by providing banking services at their doorstep and through its digital and mobile platforms. This would facilitate easy and convenient banking across urban as well as rural regions of India and help to revolutionalize banking and payment system in India.

Harini Daliparthy

Senior Legal Associate

The Indian Lawyer