Dial 14444

Nasscom, telecom operators and NITI Aayog have come together in creating a dedicated helpline 14444 for addressing all queries on digital payments, as government takes strides to push for more digital transactions post demonetisation.

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya said IT industry body Nasscom, telephone operators and the government think tank are creating the helpline to address all queries of public regarding digital payments. The helpline number would be made operational soon.

After the fourth meeting of the Committee of Chief Ministers on digital payments, Convener and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said in New Delhi, plans are afoot to import one million PoS machines to enable cashless payments across India.

He said that his committee will present its interim report on digital payments movement to Prime Minister Narendra Modi within a week. He said, the committee is planning a sustainable, long-term, policy to attract majority in India to move to digital payments through providing incentives.

According to him, two major breakthroughs using existing infrastructure have been Aadhaar Pay and modified versions of USSD and UPI, and the two would be launched soon. Significant upgrade in technology have also been made and new capacities have been added to enable millions of Indians to use digital payments, he said. An app for UPI and interoperability of USSD and UPI has now been made possible which will be a major push for 600 million Indians to use digital payments, he added.

With regard to incentives for card payments which expires on December 31, he said that Committee would recommend continuation of the incentives beyond December 31. It may be recalled that the government has given certain incentives post demonetisation like waiver of Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on card usage till the year-end.