Aiming at a ‘cash-lite’ society, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a vision document for ensuring a safe, secure, convenient, quick and affordable e-payment system as it expects the number of digital transactions to increase more than four times to 8,707 crore in December 2021.

The ‘Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision 2019 - 2021’, with its core theme of ‘Empowering Exceptional (E)payment Experience’, envisages to achieve “a highly digital and cash-lite society” through the goal posts of competition, cost effectiveness, convenience and confidence (4Cs).

The RBI said the payment systems landscape will continue to change with further innovation and entry of more players which is expected to ensure optimal cost to the customers and freer access to multiple payment system options. The previous vision document covered the period 2016 to 2018.

The latest vision document said payment systems like UPI/IMPS are likely to register average annualised growth of over 100 per cent and NEFT at 40 per cent over the vision period (period up to December 2021).

The number of digital transactions is expected to increase more than four times from 2,069 crore in December 2018 to 8,707 crore in December 2021.

“While the approach of the RBI will continue to be of minimal intervention in the pricing of charges to customers for digital payments, all efforts will be made towards facilitating the operation of payment systems which are efficient and price-attractive,” it said.

The basis shall have to be that pricing is reasonable to encourage usage and also pass-on to the customer the benefit of cost saved on managing cash in the system, it added.

The document talks about creating customer awareness, setting up a 24X7 helpline and self-regulatory organisation for system operators and service providers, among others. In all, the Payment Systems Vision 2021 has 36 specific action points and 12 specific outcomes.

The aim is to enhance customer experience, empower payment system operators and service providers, enable the payments ecosystem and infrastructure, put in place forward-looking regulations and undertake risk-focused supervision.

Other expected outcomes of Vision 2021:

Given the current trend in cheque usage and the thrust to shift to digitised transactions it is expected that the volume of cheque-based payments would be less than 2.0% of the retail electronic transactions by 2021.

Usage of debit cards at PoS transactions is expected to be at least 44 per cent of total debit card transactions (at PoS + ATM). In value terms it is 15.2 per cent in 2018-19 (5.2 per cent in 2014-15) which is expected to be 22% by end 2021.

Increased deployment of card acceptance infrastructure across the country including at smaller centres with a substantial portion of the infrastructure taking care of processing contactless card payments. 

The enhanced availability of PoS infrastructure is expected to reduced demand for cash and thus over time achieve reduction in Cash in Circulation (CIC) as a percentage of GDP.

Further facilitation of mobile based payment transactions as gauged on basis of the registered customer base (expected increase of 50% considering the base effect).