Facebook and IAMAI to promote Safe eTransactions

           

            It is said success is easily achieved when collaborating as teams.

Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Facebook have joined hands to launch Internet Safety Education programs for Students between the age group of 13 – 17.

            The average age of Online shoppers is coming down to as low as Age 1. 

Keeping this in mind, FaceBook and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), have joined hands to increase awareness amongst 13-17 age group on Safe Internet Practices.

            The Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI] is a young and vibrant association with ambitions of representing the entire gamut of digital businesses in India.

            I am sure, that you do not require introduction to Facebook.

            IAMAI has been running the Safe Surfing campaign in India for the last four years. Facebook is part of a larger online safety community.

            Now, in India both are collaborating to promote smart choices on the World Wide Web.

Why should the above program concentrate only on School Students? There are many kids in India, who do not go to school, but still have access to WWW.

Go ahead, encourage your kid to attend the program.

Andhra pradesh eamcet payment of registration fee is hundred percent cashless

            Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test (EAMCET) is conducted by Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad on behalf of APSCHE.

This examination is the prerequisite for admission into various professional courses offered in University/ Private Colleges in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Like all other entrance exams, registration fee has to be paid by the candidates. No cash was accepted, only the ePayment mode:

            The Registration Fee / Late Fee may be paid at:

i. AP Online Centers / Mee Seva centres / e-seva centers in A.P.

OR

ii. Through Payment Gateway (Credit Card / Debit Card)

As the payment mode was fully electronic, there were minimal complaints with regard to reconciliation of fees paid with the application form.

The major advantage of electronic payment was that, slabs for late payment of fees could also be implemented easily.

Submission of Online Application form:

i. Date of commencement of submission of Online Application : 15-02-2013

ii. Last Date for submission of Online application:

Without Late Fee : 27-03-2013

With a Late Fee of Rs. 500/- : 08-04-2013

With a Late Fee of Rs. 1,000/- : 17-04-2013

# With a Late Fee of Rs. 5,000/- : 27-04-2013

# With a Late Fee of Rs. 10,000/- : 07-05-2013

NPCI adopts Verhoeff Algorithm for validation of Aadhaar Numbers

NPCI adopts Verhoeff Algorithm for validation of Aadhaar Numbers

          The NPCI Aadhaar Seeder is the bridge connecting the Government Departments and the Bank Account Holders for receipt various Government subsidies, scholarships etc.

          Due to the LPG subsidy rollout program in the last couple of months, the number of Aadhaar numbers being seeded in Bank Accounts and NPCI Database has zoomed up drastically.

          It might be noted that Aadhaar is just another number, if the Biometrics validation of the Resident is not done.

          At present, basing on the Aadhaar Number Card, the seeding is done on Bank accounts or with LPG companies. The actual biometric validation has not yet commenced.

          Hence, it becomes still more important to capture the correct Aadhaar number.

          Recognizing that the Aadhaar number will be manually keyed in numerous occasions, UIDAI had adopted the Verhoeff Algorithm method, to minimize data-entry mistakes.

          The Algorithm logic is in public domain. However, computation cannot be done manually, and only computer programs are capable of validating a number in the Verhoeff Algorithm method.

          NPCI vide its circular dt. July 09, 2013, advised all banks which are part of the NACH-APB system to implement the Verhoeff Algorithm in their systems to validate Aadhaar numbers before seeding the same in customer accounts. If this is not done, any invalid Aadhaar number will be rejected by NPCI mapper with the reason, ‘Invalid Aadhaar No_ Verhoeff Checksum validation failed’.

Karnataka examination authority

KEA (Karnataka Examination Authority) – An experiment in ePayment

            The KEA is the nodal agency for conducting CET in Karnataka and also issues the Admission Order to enable the selected students to join the Professional colleges they have opted for.

            The normal procedure to remit the fees was through Demand Drafts or payment via challan in designated Bank branches. This year the Designated Bank Branch was Indian Bank, Malleswaram Branch.

            This year new ePayment options have been added. Students can pay their fees through

Net Banking/Debit Card/Credit Card

And

Challan Payment other than Indian Bank (Through NEFT / RTGS)

            The major drawback in the NEFT/RTGS mode is that the Sending Account Number and Name of the account holder would be of the student’s parent and not of the student. And, also due to communication gap, the Proper UTR number would not be uploaded in the KEA portal. As a result, the KEA officials could not map the NEFT/RTGS payments to the respective students.

            The major challenge in the Net Banking/Debit Card/Credit Card was the slow server response time and also that the limits in the credit cards were not sufficient for the fees amount. But, the main advantage was the ability to download the Admission Order immediately.

            15/07/2013 is the last day to remit the fees, and as such, the last few days were a harrowing time for the parents, students and also KEA officials. By 13/07/2013, most of the issues relating to ePayment mode were rectified. However, officials have promised to review the matter tomorrow.

            Additional reading material:

KEA detailed instructions

CET: e-payment system throws them into a tizzy

E-payment glitches March day 2 of CET admissions

reserve bank of india quiz

          RBIQ (Reserve Bank of India Quiz) 2013, has started rolling out last month across the country.

          The Quiz kicked off in 2012, by Reserve Bank of India, is now a permanent fixture on India’s quizzing scene.

          As the Zonal rounds have commenced, the action is heating up across Indian schools

          This year i.e 2013, the preliminary rounds are taking place in 44 cities. To encourage participation from a large number of schools, local RBI offices have written letters to School Principals’, informing them of the RBIQ 2013, and the benefits of participation.

          The format this year is similar to the 2012 format.  

RQIB 2013 format:

The Quiz will have four  stages.

• The Pre-Quarter Final and Quarter Final will be held on the same day

• For deciding on the eight winning teams from each of the four zones, i.e. North, East, West and South, for the Zonal Finals, a Zonal Semi-Final will be held in each of these zones.

• On completion of this, the Zonal Finals for each zone will be held followed by the National Final wherein two winning teams from each of these Zonal Finals will then take part. Travel, Stay, etc. arrangements, if any, for the teams participating in Zonal Semi-finals, Zonal Finals as also the National Final will be made by RBI. These two stages of RBIQ are likely to be telecast on a reputed TV channel.

Each student taking part in RBIQ will be given a Certificate of Participation. Students participating in the Zonal Finals and the National Final will win attractive prizes.

Students studying in Stds. IX, X, XI & XII are eligible to participate in RBIQ.

Each school has been requested to send only one team comprising 2 students from any of these classes. In case the school chooses to send more than one team, that in the event of more than one team emerging successful in the preliminary round, only the top-scoring team representing the school will be chosen to participate the Quarter Final round.

RBIQ 2013 is being conducted by reputed quizmaster Gautam Bose and his associates. Lucknow, Shillong and Port Blair are few of the cities which are included in the 44 list.

          The RBIQ 2012 edition was hosted by Shri Barry O’Brien and his frequent team mate and co-host Shri Ryan Shaw

Indusind live on IMPS-ATM sub product

            Indusind Bank has tapped one more eTransactions opportunity, to increase the footfalls at its ATMs.

            It has gone live on (Immediate Payment Service) IMPS-ATM sub product. This means Indusind Bank customers can access the IMPS facility through the bank’s ATMs.  

            Once Indusind bank starts advertising the same, across various media channels, the transactions volumes will increase.

            One recent product which Indusind Bank has launched is the ‘Super Savers Pack’, for its saving bank customers.

French Customers Able to reload air time Minutes on Friends/Family Mobile Phones via PayPal Mobile Reload

TransferTo, the global airtime leader owned by payment provider company Ingenico, has inked a contract with another global player i.e PayPal. PayPal leveraging on TransferTos’ global airtime remittance hub has launched, PayPal Mobile Reload.

          The PayPal Mobile Reload enables French Customers to recharge their family/friends mobile phones balances globally.

          This is the first step to tap the $300 billion French cross-border remittance market. The worldwide market of such customers is 200 million+ people. Initially, the target is to monetize mobile-to-mobile minute sharing. Well, this is very common in India. Normally, parents top-up their children’s mobile phone with airtime, so that they can be in touch with their children. The other category is airtime top-up by their friends, so they can continue to talk or SMS messages.

          What PayPal has now done is to enable French customers top-up airtime to mobile customers around the world, and not only restrict to French mobile numbers.

The easy way to reload mobile devices!

·         Users simply have to go to PayPal Mobile Reload, and select the recipient’s country, enter the recipient’s mobile phone number, the amount they want to send to their mobile phone, and finally, pay with PayPal.

·         The mobile phone is reloaded instantly.

·         Once the reload has been completed, the sender will receive an email from PayPal confirming the transaction and the recipient will receive a text message.

Six Polish banks join hands for a mobile payments system to take on card schemes

            Six Banks in Poland viz Alior Bank, Bank Millennium, Bank Zachodni WBK, BRE Bank, ING Bank Śląski and PKO Bank Polsk, have a 70% share in Poland’s electronic banking market. These 6 banks have joined hands to form a joint venture. 

          The joint venture main aim is to define a common standard for mobile payments, which if successful, will cut down the reliance on Visa and MasterCard in the Polish eBanking arena.  The new standards will be developed under the guidance of the national regulator.

The offering is modeled around PKO Bank's IKO app, which was launched in March and lets customers make in-store payments and ATM withdrawals by keying in a code generated by the app. Customers can also send money to recipients by entering their mobile phone number, like Barclays Pingit in the UK.

The proposed system is designed to bypass card firms, a fact that PKO's MD of electronic banking, Wojciech Bolanowski, admitted at MobeyDay last month, Visa was "not happy about".

Bank Millennium CEO Boguslaw Kott has openly admitted that the group is challenging Visa and MasterCard, telling Reuters: "This will be a more competitive system compared to the credit card system. The credit card system will probably be put under a question mark in the future."

            The differentiator between the new Polish Collaboration in comparison with like Spain and the UK, is that the Polish system has the backing of only financial institutions and not a combination of telcos and financial institutions.

            None of the six will have a dominating position, each using the same platform and then adding their own extra features, while the group says it is also open to bringing other banks and acquirers onboard.

Indian Taxpayers to get an unique number for complaints. No, this number is not mandatory

            Indian taxpayers are familiar with PAN (Permanent Accounts Number), TAN (Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number), UTN (Unique Transaction Number). In the near future, they will be familiar with UAN (Unique Acknowledgment Number).

The UAN will be provided to the set of Income Tax Payers, who have a grievance regarding their IT refunds and tax computations, by IT Department, when they lodge a complaint with IT authorities.

            The added bonus is the promise to resolve the complaint within two months time.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes, which frames policies and rules for the I-T Department, has asked all its Chief Commissioners across the country to ensure these new facilities for taxpayers with “immediate effect”.

The CBDT, issued these directions on July 5 after the Delhi High Court recently passed orders with regard to finetuning procedures followed by the Department on receipt and disposal of rectification applications’ which are filed by taxpayers under Section 154 of the I-T Act.

Whether the taxpayer files his rectification application:

• By ordinary post,
• by hand or
• online,

The receipt counter of the department will generate a special and unique acknowledgement number for the taxpayer by which he or she will be assured of solving the grievance within a stipulated time.

The taxpayer has to quote this number in any further communication with the department.

It has also been instructed by CBDT that rectification applications are “decided as far as possible within a period of two months from the end of the month in which application is received.”

The CBDT has also asked the I-T Department to inform the taxpayer as soon as his or her grievance is disposed of.

In cases of e-filing of tax returns that reach the Central Processing Centre of the department in Bangalore same procedures would be followed by them and in case the CPC is unable to do so, it will immediately inform the assessing officer of the taxpayer to take remedial action.

In order to plug all loopholes, the CBDT has also directed the department that all such receipts of rectification applications from taxpayers will have to be mandatorily updated in the online rectification register, which can be inspected by supervisory officers. In case of postal complaints, these should be compulsorily recorded in the official diary maintained by the I-T authority.