The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has setup a Payment Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) worth Rs 5 billion with an aim to support and improve the development of digital payments ecosystem in the rural and north east areas of the country.
To this end, RBI has put in an initial seed contribution of Rs 2.5 billion in the PIDF. The remaining half of the fund is expected to be contributed by all card issuing banks and network operators.
Further, the card issuing banks and card networks will also provide annual recurring contributions to take care of operational expenses. Meanwhile, RBI will also contribute from time to time to cover the yearly shortfalls.
While the RBI will manage and administer the PIDF, an advisory council will be set up for its governance.
The primary objective of PIFD is to encourage acquirers to deploy points of sale (PoS) infrastructure in both physical and digital medium in tier-3 to tier-6 centres and north eastern states.
