Chennai Metro Tickets – Please onboard NPCI UPI BHIM

Chennai Metro Tickets – Please onboard NPCI UPI BHIM

          The major inspiration for this post is Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi highlighting ‘NPCI UPI BHIM’, in his Independence Day speech to the world.

The minor inspiration for this post is the Chennai Metro Press Release dt 03/08/2022, under the tag line of “No more Q, only QR”

          The complete press release can be read @ https://chennaimetrorail.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Press-Release-03.08.2022-English.pdf

          A metro train journey starts with the visitor purchasing a ticket for the metro journey.

          More than 50,00,000/- passengers travelled on Chennai Metro in July 2022. This means 50lacs + folks had to buy tickets via the single travel mode or Smart Card to travel in the Chennai Metro.

          Chennai Metro is taking various steps to reduce the rush at its ticket counters. The visitors have multiple channels to book tickets for travel on the Chennai Metro both physical and digital.

          Somehow the preference is towards the physical tickets only. Physical tickets put a stress both on the visitors and the ticketing staff.

          A new option i.e “No more Q, only QR” has also been introduced by Chennai Metro to enhance the customer experience.

          This is particularly useful for visitors having mobile net connectivity but have not downloaded the Chennai Metro App.

          To further enhance the customer experience, Chennai Metro can explore tie-ups with NPCI UPI BHIM.

          It can take the lead for a Ticketing Module on the NPCI UPI BHIM. A similar payment channel for few other Metros is already live on PhonePe. So, a new development from scratch is not required. Only few tweaks may be required to operationalise the ticketing facility on NPCI UPI BHIM.

          The smart cards are beneficial to frequent travellers on the metro route. This are not suitable for visitors for Chennai wishing to explore Chennai via its wonderful Metro.

          The ‘Tap a Debit Card’, feature is yet to take off, as there are very few cards enabled with the NCMC facility.

          The following benefits are foreseen with Chennai Metro onboarding NPCI UPI BHIM :-

Benefit 01) Minimal technical integration required between the BHIM and Chennai Metro Ticketing systems. Under the “No more Q, only QR” mode, the passengers need to have net connectivity on their phones to complete the ticketing process. This means customers can also login to NPCI UPI BHIM to complete the ticketing experience.

Benefit 02) Volumes will increase on the BHIM platform. The Chennai Metro travellers may prefer to do their other UPI transactions via BHIM, once they are comfortable with the metro ticketing experience.

Benefit 03) A small addition to the overall UPI volumes. The ticket size of Chennai Metro is below INR100/-. Hence, the preferred payment option will be UPI over other modes viz net banking / credit card / debit card

Benefit 04) The travel card recharge option can also be part of the proposed BHIM Chennai Ticket Module. Other modules, like tourist cards can also be explored. The Chennai Metro parking charges for 2 and 4 wheelers can also be collected through the ‘BHIM Chennai Ticket Module’.

 

Challenges: Minimal challenges as NPCI UPI BHIM is backed by Banks and Governments.

The QR ticket so generated can automatically be downloaded into the Mobile used for ticket booking.

In case, the metro ticket is being booked for other folks, the metro ticket can be shared via WhatsApp.

Any security features for a seamless experience can be built into the Ticket interface module.

 

Additional Reading:

Chennai Metro Parking Tariff @ https://chennaimetrorail.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Parking-tariff-Updated.pdf

 

Rewarded with gifts will be given to ticketing staff who sell the most number of Metro travel cards at Chennai Metro Rail stations @

https://chennaimetrorail.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Press-Release-30.07.2022-English.pdf

Disclaimer: These are my personal views only. The bottom line is Safe ePayments. Nothing More – Nothing Less.

Copyrights belong to the original owner only. 

 

Good Morning India – UPI set to cross 600 crore transactions in July 2022

 

Good Morning India – UPI set to cross 600 crore transactions in July 2022

           Good morning, Folks – By the time you are reading this blog post, the July 2022 UPI transaction volumes will have crossed

60,000 lacs or 600 crores or 6,000 million

          The following numbers reflect my belief:

 

The below table shows volumes for the same Month i.e July for the last few years

 

Looking forward for 1,00,000 lacs or 1,000 crores or 10,000 million by December 2022

Yes, we can achieve it

The following volumes show the race towards 60,000 lacs or 600 crores or 6,000 million volumes

 

 

Disclaimer: These are my personal views only. The bottom line is Safe ePayments. Nothing More – Nothing Less.

 

Safe ePayments @ Chess Olympiad 2022

Safe ePayments @ Chess Olympiad 2022

The excitement amongst chess fans across is the world is building up for the ‘Chess Olympiad 2022’

Mamallapuram near Chennai will be hosting ‘Chess Olympiad 2022’ for the next couple of weeks.

Players from 187+ countries will be in action at the Che Oly

          A large number of support staff / chess devotees will shuttle between Chennai and Mam to savour the flavours of the ‘Chess Olympiad 2022’

          The players may prefer to stay at Mamallapuram only.

          Chess fans have the option of viewing the matches live at Hall 1 or Hall 2. Another option is to view the matches on the internet.

          Both the options have their own charms.

          Majority of the visitors to Chennai or Mam for the ‘Chess Olympiad 2022’will opt for digital payments in their daily routine.

The average number of players / support staff / visitors / chess for the ‘Chess Olympiad 2022’is expected to be around 50,000. The numbers may go up as the games come to close.

As chess players from 187+ countries are participating in the ‘Chess Olympiad 2022’, there are high chances of tourists from across the world making a beeline to Chennai / Mamallapuram for the next couple of weeks.

This is a golden opportunity to spread the Joy of Safe ePayments

          The objectives of Joy of Safe ePayments are:

Objective 01) Minimum technical failures

Objective 02) Minimum fraudulent transactions

Objective 03) Minimum physical cash usage

Objective 04) Minimum complaints

          The primary digital payment channels by foreign visitors will be Cards, whereas UPI will be the primary digital payment channel for Indians.

ATM cash withdrawals may be small in number.

Players -– Main focus __ To play chess.

Support Staff – Main focus __ To support the Olympiad players to give their best.

Visitors – Main focus __ To soak in the once in a life time experience in Chennai / Mamallapuram / the journey between Chennai and Mamallapuram

Chess Fans – Main focus __ To view the games played by their favourite chess stars in flesh.

          A commemorative stamp to mark the 44th Chess Olympiad was released on 20/07/2022.

          It would have been wonderful if Banks too released Limited Edition Debit / Credit Cards for the 44^th Chess Olympiad.

Disclaimer: These are my personal views only. The bottom line is Safe ePayments. Nothing More – Nothing Less.

 

Read more @

Chess Olympiad 2022: Tamil Nadu to give health insurance to 2,000 players @ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/chess-olympiad-2022-tamil-nadu-to-give-health-insurance-cards-to-2000-players/articleshow/93166424.cms

Chess Olympiad Stamp unveiled to celebrate ‘World Chess Day’ @ https://sportstar.thehindu.com/chess/chess-olympiad/chess-olympiad-stamp-unveiled-world-chess-day/article65663755.ece

 

Chess Olympiad 2022: World’s biggest Chess championship to begin next week, here’s all you need to know @ https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chennai/international-chess-olympiad-only-a-week-away-tamil-nadu-village-all-decked-up-8044026/

 

PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai on July 28 @ https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/other-sports/story/pm-narendra-modi-to-inaugurate-44th-chess-olympiad-at-jawaharlal-nehru-stadium-in-chennai-on-july-28-1980721-2022-07-27

Square off: On India hosting 44th Chess Olympiad @ https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/square-off-the-hindu-editorial-on-india-hosting-44th-chess-olympiad/article65685998.ece

 

 

 

 

NPCI to introduce BASE i.e Bharat Aadhaar Seeding Enabler

NPCI to introduce BASE i.e Bharat Aadhaar Seeding Enabler

              NPCI - NACH Team has released a document informing to public at large on the launch of BASE

              The full form of BASE is Bharat Aadhaar Seeding Enabler

              Government’s Direct Benefit Transfer runs on Aadhaar Numbers. Citizens Aadhaar Numbers have to be seeded into specific bank accounts. In turn, that information should flow to NPCI Mapper. Over the years, substantial amounts have been routed through DBT channel to the end beneficiaries.

The DBT Channel has routed Rs.6,30,264/- Crores via 717 crores transactions in FY 2021-22 . The number keeps on increasing every month.

To further enhance customer satisfaction, NPCI has come out with BASE.

              The objectives of this new facility by NPCI is to: -

Objective 01) Enable citizens to check Aadhaar seeding status

Objective 02) Enable citizens to do Aadhaar seeding

Objective 03) Enable citizens to do Aadhaar deseeding

Objective 04) Enable citizens to move Aadhaar seeding from one Bank to another Bank

 

Aadhaar Seeding in NPCI Mapper is a two-step process

Step 01) The respective Aadhaar must be linked to a specific Bank Account Number

Step 02) The specific bank should send that information to NPCI Mapper

Both steps are necessary for seamless delivery of Government Benefits to one’s bank account via the respective entity and NPCI

 

Step 2 is not possible without Step 1

Step 1 is incomplete if Step 2 is not done.

To reduce the TAT around Aadhaar seeding / deseeding, NPCI has come up with BASE

Customers can refer the NPCI FAQs for better clarity @ https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/nach/faqs/customers

 

Q: When is the Go Live Date?

Ans: The Go Live is not mentioned in the document. As the go-live process involves multiple integrations between various IT Systems, hoping that BASE goes live in the next couple of months.

The Benefits of BASE are: -

Benefit 01) Reduce dependence on the banks staff

Benefit 02) Be aware of their latest Aadhaar Seeding status

Benefit 03) Reduce the TAT for Aadhaar seeding in NPCI Mapper

Benefit 04) Use of Digital Tools to enhance customer satisfaction.

 

Read the complete NPCI Circular @ https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/nach/circulars

Circular No 3 – Bharat Aadhaar Seeding Enabler (BASE)

 

Disclaimer: These are my personal views only. The bottom line is Safe ePayments. Nothing More – Nothing Less.

 

 

NPCI Circular No 142 – Acceptance of UPI based payments by Merchants

 NPCI Circular No 142 – Acceptance of UPI based payments by Merchants

NPCI – UPI Division released the Circular Non n142 on 25^th March 2022, highlighting the need for Merchants to accept UPI Payments from any UPI App.

The circular is addressed to all Banks on UPI.

Gist of the circular:

UPI acquiring banks need to ensure that merchants on-boarded (directly or indirectly) accept payments from any UPI App and do not restrict payments from specified UPI apps only.

This is to ensure that there is a level playing field to all UPI apps and consumer has the choice of making a payment from his/her preferred UPI App.

Please note that is applicable to only UPI-Collect Requests.

Under the UPI Scan n Pay at the merchants physical place, the customer can pay through UPI App.

UPI-Collect is one of the most preferred payment modes to buy goods / services on

e-commerce sites.

Under the UPI-Collect mode, customer need not disclose their bank account details. They can just key in the UPI VPA, and log into the respective UPI App to complete the payment.

Major e-commerce players have their own UPI handles to receive payment from their customers. EG: Amazon Pay has 2 UPI Handles.,

Axis Bank@apl

Yes Bank@yapl

Now with the above circular, e-commerce players will have to offer a choice to their customers to pay from any UPI App.

In case of any customer complaints, NPCI may take appropriate action, as the case might be.

Read the complete NPCI Cir No 142 @ https://www.npci.org.in/PDF/npci/upi/circular/2022/UPI-OC-142-Acceptance-of-UPI-based-payments-by-merchants.pdf