The Business Correspondent Federation of India (BCFI) on Friday appealed to banks and local authorities to help its agents have safe and easy access to cash to provide essential services in semi-urban and rural areas.
BCFI is a body representing fintech companies working towards the delivery of financial services to underbanked and unbanked.
The industry body said due to the 21-day nationwide lockdown on account of COVID-19, the situation is worse in rural India with limited access to primary banking services such as cash withdrawal, money transfer.
On Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam announced a relief package of Rs 1.7 lakh crore for the economically weaker sections of the society.
In order to ensure that the cash reaches to the beneficiaries, BCFI has made an appeal to banks and other stakeholders in the ecosystem to help agents have safe and easy access to cash from their local banks, so that they can continue unhindered providing essential services to the common man.
In these seriously challenging times, to ensure thatthat the relief package reaches the intended, and beneficiaries are able to access the cash,along with the banking systems,our business correspondents are the frontline warriors,providing access to this relief cash, BCFI member and CEO of PayNearby Anand Kumar Bajaj said.
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BCFI also requested the government for a relief package of Rs 5,000 for business correspondents for the next three months, which is less than 0.5% of the Rs 1.75 lakh crore package announced by the government.
This will motivate these correspondents to offer uninterrupted services and ensure the benefits of the relief package reach the intended and they can access the cash.
Business correspondents provide access to basic banking services such as cash deposit or cash withdrawal in remote areas.