Soon, you will be able to make digital payment in offline mode as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today proposed to introduce a framework in this regard, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has announced.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today announced that offline payments mechanisms will soon be made available throughout the country. As per the announcement, customers who face internet connectivity issues, which don’t allow them to make payments using online digital modes such as UPI, IMPS, RTGS, etc., will now be able to use the offline payment mechanisms to make payments in due course.
As per the Statement on Development and Regulatory Policies, “The Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated August 06, 2020, had announced a scheme to conduct pilot tests of innovative technology that enables retail digital payments even in situations where internet connectivity is low / not available (offline mode). Three pilots were successfully conducted under the Scheme in different parts of the country during the period from September 2020 to June 2021 involving small-value transactions covering a volume of 2.41 lakh for a value of Rs 1.16 crore. The learnings indicate that there is a scope to introduce such solutions, especially in remote areas. Given the experience gained from the pilots and the encouraging feedback, it is proposed to introduce a framework for carrying out retail digital payments in offline mode across the country. Detailed guidelines will be issued in due course. ”
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also maintained the status quo in its bi-monthly Monetary Policy meeting scheduled on October 8. The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of India’s central bank kept the key lending rate — repo rate unchanged at 4 percent for the eighth time in a row. The reverse repo rate remained unchanged at 3.5 percent. The policy stance will also be kept unchanged at ‘accommodative’. The MPC voted 5-1 to retain the accommodative stance as long as necessary to sustain growth on a durable basis while ensuring that inflation remains within the target, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. RBI retained the FY22 GDP growth forecast at 9.5 percent.
This is the eighth consecutive time the MPC maintaining a status quo in rates. The rate action is on the expected lines as most economists polled by Moneycontrol had predicted a status quo in rates considering the present growth-inflation scenario.
