UIDAI to incentivise biometric Aadhaar payments

The Unique Identification Authority of India has said merchants that use biometrics for digital transactions should be given incentives.The UIDAI likens the situation to the country's business correspondent model, a financial inclusion initiative which allows banks to provide service at people's doorstep through the use of third party services. A business correspondent is a representative authorized to offer services such as cash transactions where the lender does not have a branch.If a merchant is using Aadhaar-enabled payment systems then he should be put at par with Business Correspondent and whatever facility and commission is available to the Business Correspondent, he should be paid on the same lines, Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO of UIDAI, told PTI.The UIDAI is the nodal body responsible for rolling out the Aadhaar programme in the country.”We are saying wherever you do not have business correspondents, supposing a merchant is able to facilitate payment directly from the Aadhaar-linked bank account, then there has to be a system in which the merchant should get the incentive,” he said.Doing this would be a win-win for banks too, Pandey said. “It is beneficial for banks also, because banks do not have to hand over that much cash to the Business Correspondent,” he added.Pandey said that incentivising shopkeepers who adopt the biometric payment system would also “remove an extra layer” as consumers today approach banks, ATMs or business correspondents for withdrawl of money to purchase items such as rations.

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