Vodafone India, ICICI Bank and the Odisha government have entered into an agreement to facilitate payment of wages to workers under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA) through mobile phone.
Mobile Commerce Solutions (MCSL), a subsidiary of Vodafone India and ICICI Bank will implement pilot projects in two blocks in Odisha namely Hinjilicut and Chikiti in Ganjam district. Under the pilot projects, ICICI Bank will open accounts for workers under MG-NREGA and their individual Vodafone mobile numbers will act as the savings account number. Beneficiaries will receive their wages through mobile phones. The customers will receive alerts via SMS and will be able to withdraw cash from nearby retail outlet by authorising the transactions on their mobile.
The customers will also earn savings bank interest for the funds in their accounts. They can also carry out deposits and remittances directly with their mobiles. Further, the companies will also appoint a mobile retailer in each gram panchayat to act as customer service providers in the two districts.
