Internet or not, rural Odisha people can well have banks in their pocket in near future thanks to the USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) facility from the National Payment Corporation of India (NCPI) if a mobile revolution is launched in rural Odisha vigorously to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cashless economy.
From farmers to common rural folk who are feeling the pinch of cash crunch, the USSD could come as a boon as this technology works without internet and is accessible through a common code called *99# across all telecom service providers. And significantly, availing this service a user could transfer fund to his account without visiting his/her bank or make payment to a seller without carrying a penny in pocket. Bank holidays would also not be a bothering for masses if one is availing the USSD.
The only requirement to avail this cashless banking or transaction is to own a simple GSM handset (not Smartphone) and register your mobile number with the bank for mobile banking services, where the bank then would issue a 7-digit MMID (mobile money identifier) to the customer. This technology by using the voice connectivity would render all your financial, nonfinancial services (like balance enquiry or getting mini balance statement) and value-added services in a hassle-free way.
Why the USSD is a USP for Odisha for seamless transition to cashless economyIJ It is because when only around 19 per cent villages of a total of over 51,000 in Odisha have broadband connectivity as on March 31, 2016, a whopping around 54 per cent of the total villages in the State have been under the mobile network cover. Moreover, when internet subscription in rural Odisha fell to 3.37 million by March-end 2016 from 3.5 million in March-end 2015, a net addition of a whopping around one lakh mobile connection in rural areas were recorded during the same period.
Also, Odisha has been number 3 in the country when it comes to growth in mobile services every month. Whereas in internet connections, the State didn’t figure even in top ten in the country.
Despite so, universal mobile density is still a distance away in rural areas as the rural tele-density in Odisha stands at around 48 per cent only against a whopping 157 per cent in urban areas. Tele-density means phone subscription per person and data show that not even half of the rural Odisha owns mobiles. The more-than-100-per cent tele-density in urban areas is, therefore, attributed to owning up multiple subscriptions to telecom service providers.
For now, the figures do suggest that Odisha could take a leap into less-cash economy in rural areas, provided the rural folk are made aware of such seamless services in vogue in the country.