In Odisha, a lucky Draw will be held and cash rewards will be provided to the consumers and merchants using digital facilities for payments on January 21, thanks to the decision of the Government of India to popularise digital transactions.
NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has informed the State Government in this regard, said sources.
Awardees will be identified through a programme of random digital method. The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) has been designated as the implementing agency for the lucky Draw and to maintain the technical integrity and security for the purpose.
Kant has said that as the Union Government has launched two schemes, lucky Grahak Yojana (lGY) and Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojana (DVY), to drive digital payments, consumers and merchants will receive a number of cash rewards for participating in such activities.
Transactions made through RuPay Cards, USSD, UPI and AEPs are eligible for the schemes. They will be given awards on a daily and weekly basis under lGY and DVY.
Accordingly, a lucky Draw will be held in Bhubaneswar, for which the NITI Aayog has sent a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the State Government. The State Government will implement the programme through an Organising Committee headed by the Chief Secretary.
The first lucky Draw was held on December 25 last coinciding with Christmas, leading up to April 14, 2017, coinciding with the Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti.
lucky Draws will be held in 100 cities of the country, and the District Magistrates will organise the award giving ceremonies. The Departments of Electronics & Information Technology of the States will be Nodal Agencies for coordinating the activities. State level Coordinators, lead Banks and representatives of fertiliser companies in the States will provide assistance for lucky Draws.
Representatives of banks and Banking Correspondents will be in attendance as they are to make consumers and merchants aware about the programme.
local community participation would be given priority as the programmes are meant for the common people, said Kant.
In Odisha, the process has begun with Chief Secretary AP Padhi having held discussions with Finance Principal Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey and Electrornics & IT Principal Secretary Pradeep Jena in this regard, said sources.
A State level Organising Committee will be formed to oversee the programme to promote digital payment in Odisha.