The State Panchayati Raj Department has joined hands with Axis Bank to introduce mobile-based disbursement of wages to NREGA job card holders.
The bank has launched a pilot project in Ghatgaon block of Keonjhar district and Saintala of Balangir district.
As per the agreement, NRGEA job card holders will get their daily wage directly on their mobile phones. Axis Bank will use the Airtel MCommerce services to process and disburse the wages to the card holders.
Retailers of the telecom company will function as Customer Service Points and ensure seamless process of disbursal. The card holders will just have to subscribe to the Airtel money service to link their mobile number with Axis Bank account. Based on the remittance made by the Department, the beneficiary’s account will directly receive the amount on the mobile phone on the due date.
Customers will also receive alerts via SMS and voice message and withdraw cash from any Airtel retail outlet by authorising the transaction on their mobiles. They will also continue to earn savings bank interest for the funds in their account.
“We hope that this model of banking will be highly useful to our customers since it works on any phone and has a low cost of operation,” regional distribution head and executive vice-president of the bank Debarchan Mishra said.