Why is it in the news?

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) Scheme until 2025.

More about the news

• The Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) Scheme was initiated in 2021 with an initial three-year duration.
• The primary goal of the scheme is to foster the deployment of payment acceptance infrastructure.
• Target areas include tier-3 to tier-6 centres, North eastern states, and Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
• Notably, the scheme has been extended to cover street vendors under the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi Scheme) in Tier-1 and Tier-2 centres.
• PIDF operates under the oversight of an Advisory Council.
• The management and administration of the scheme are carried out by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• The scheme encompasses various acceptance devices, including physical Point of Sale (PoS) terminals, mobile PoS (mPoS), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), among others.

To broaden the scope of beneficiaries and acceptance infrastructure, several enhancements have been introduced:

• Beneficiaries of the PM Vishwakarma Scheme are now included as merchants under the PIDF Scheme.
• Sound Box devices and Aadhaar-enabled biometric devices are eligible for subsidy claims under the scheme.
• Uniform Subsidy for Special Focus Areas: The subsidy for special focus areas has been made uniform at 90% of the cost of the device, irrespective of the type of device, ensuring equitable support for targeted regions and initiatives.

Other initiatives to promote Digital payments

• Aadhar Enabled Payment System (AePS): Facilitates financial transactions on a Micro-ATM using individuals’ Aadhaar numbers.
• Aadhar Payment Bridge System (APBS): Simplifies bulk and recurring Government benefits and subsidy payments.
• Unified Payments Interface (UPI): Introduced as a single platform, merging diverse banking services and features under one umbrella.
• Pradhan Mantri-Gramin Digital SakshartaAbhiyan (PMGDISHA): Initiative designed to promote digital literacy among rural populations.