HYDERABAD: The BHIM App (Bharat Interface for Money) which is an initiative taken by our PM Mr. Narendra Modi to make cashless India is less appreciated in Hyderabad.
The retail shop owners in the city did not initiate the payment method. BHIM allow users send or receive money to other UPI payment addresses or scanning Q R code or account number
So far the app has over 1,69,485 downloads on Google Play store but according to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) officials, the app has crossed 3 million downloads.
Dinesh Singh, who runs a Kirana store at BS Maqtha, Begumpet said. “I have downloaded the BHIM app and I am ready to accept payments through the app, but so far there has been no single customer who has even made an inquiry about the payment gateway at my store.” Most people still use Paytm for digital payments, he added.
Many shopkeepers at Begumpet, Panjagutta, Ameerpet, Banjara hills areas were simply unaware of the app’s existence.
A senior official with NPCI said. “The app is new to the market and it should be given time to catch up with apps like Paytm. These payment gateways have been in the market for a long time but despite that, we have been able to make over five lakh transactions within the limited period of the app’s launch.”
“BHIM is also a Unified Payment Interface (UPI) app per say and uses bank account of the user for transactions. There is no transferring of money to mobile wallets and then to another bank account so therefore there is no burden of transaction costs involved here for the merchants,” he said.
BHIM has been named after Bhim Rao Ambedkar beside incorporating utility payments and phone recharge features, the app will also be integrated with Aadhaar with the aim of enabling digital transactions by using a fingerprint of the user so that the illiterate people can also make payments by using just their fingerprint.