Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched digital payments solution e-RUPI that is aimed at improving transparency and targeted delivery of benefits.

To begin with e-RUPI facility is available for health services and will be expanded to other segments. "Today the country is giving a new dimension to digital governance. eRUPI voucher is going to play a huge role in making digital transactions, and DBT more effective. This will help everyone in targeted, transparent and leakage-free delivery," the Prime Minister said while launching e-RUPI.

Also Read: Explained - What is e-RUPI and how does it work?

The Prime Minister said that the technology is being seen as a tool to help the poor and is bringing transparency. "e-RUPI voucher is not just purpose but person-specific also, ensuring benefit is used for intended purpose only," he said.

He said the use of technology to deliver cooking gas subsidy, ration money and other social security schemes directly to bank accounts of beneficiaries has helped the government save Rs 1.78 lakh crore so far by plugging pilferages and weeding out fake beneficiaries.

India has transferred about Rs 17.5 lakh crore directly in the accounts of beneficiaries so far, he said, adding 300 centrally-sponsored schemes are on-board on DBT platform. "About 90 crore citizens in some way or the other are getting benefits like LPG subsidy transfer, pension, PM KISAN Yojana and scholarship through the platform...All these experiments have resulted in saving Rs 1.78 lakh crore of government money going to the wrong hands," he said.

Modi said the government has transferred Rs 1.35 lakh crore so far since the launch of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Yojana while Rs 85,000 crore was transferred directly to farmers against wheat procurement this year.

The Prime Minister also urged the states to use e-voucher for better targetting of their schemes. Even the private sector can leverage these digital vouchers as part of their employee welfare and corporate social responsibility programmes, he said.

e-RUPI is a cashless and contactless instrument for digital payment, an official statement said, adding, it is a QR code or SMS string-based e-voucher, which is delivered to the mobile of the beneficiaries.

The users of this seamless one-time payment mechanism will be able to redeem the voucher without a card, digital payments app or internet banking access, at the service provider, it said. It has been developed by the National Payments Corporation of India on its UPI platform, in collaboration with the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and National Health Authority.

(With inputs from PTI)

(Edited by : Aditi Gautam)

First Published:Aug 2, 2021 5:13 PM IST