Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has floated a consultation paper, inviting suggestions on the delivery of basic financial services through mobile phones.
“With an aim to utilise the fast growth of mobile telephony in rural and remote areas, mobile banking is seen as integral part of banking services,” Trai said in the paper. It will use unique identification numbers in offering services.
The framework will create ‘mobile linked no-frills accounts” by banks, which will have various transaction limits. The basic financial transactions (cash deposit, credit customer’s mobile linked no-frills account, cash withdrawal, peer-to-peer transfer and balance inquiry) on these accounts can be executed through a mobile-based PIN system or biometric-based micro ATMs of business correspondents .
An Inter-Ministerial Group has identified the different stakeholders in the framework, including the Reserve Bank of India, Unique Identification Authority of India, National Payments Corporation of India, Banks Mobile Service Providers, Department of Post, citizen, government and Trai.
A large percentage of rural population does not have a deposit account, which means they do not have access to even basic financial services. Around 209 million rural mobile subscribers far outstrip bank account holders in rural areas.
