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The government has decided to raise the commission to banks for managing Direct Benefit Transfers (DBTs) to two per cent from the one per cent being paid now, as a step to increase the compensation for expenses.
A two per cent commission makes sense and an order to that effect will be issued soon, Anurag Jain, joint secretary in the Union ministry of finance, told a banking summit organised by Ficci-IBA by a video conference from Delhi.
The DBT money includes subsidy for cooking gas, kerosene and wages paid under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Also, accounts opened under the Jan-Dhan Yojana will be used to make payments under DBT.
The Indian Banks' Association had sought a three per cent commission to cover the expenses. The cost incurred was estimated at a little over 3.1 per cent per transaction.
Bankers said the increase in commission does not cover the costs but banks will be able to gain from the float money kept in bank accounts. The amount paid for each account is small but the payments made in accounts opened under the Jan-Dhan Yojana will be huge.
Jain said the purpose of the Jan-Dhan Yojana is not only opening of bank accounts but to provide access to financial services. Now, there is focus on fixed points for making transactions. Plus, they get RuPay cards, helping to improve interoperability and make a transaction on an electronic platform. Jain said banks had opened about 34 million accounts till date since launch of the scheme on August 28.
