|
||
India’s policies for a digital economy are taking strong positive shape. Last month, the Justice Srikrishna Committee released its Report on Data Protection as well as a draft Personal Data Protection Bill 2018. The Commerce Task Force also released a draft e - commerce policy for stakeholder consultation. There are a multitude of issues emerging and we have compiled opinions and views on these policies in our blog post “Policies for India's Digital Economy - an update”, as an easy reference resource, which will be updated as we go on. The process of new legislation has begun in full earnest. Some issues are thorny, for instance the stress on data localisation will weigh on service providers and may increase costs. In fact, while framing rules, it is crucial that the government remembers not to overburden service providers with mandates that will hit innovation. Regulatory overload can backfire on the objective of financial inclusion, as servicing low income customers may become less attractive. Meanwhile, Payments Banks are running into trouble as RBI has found instances of the banks running afoul of regulations. While Airtel Payments Bank was earlier barred from adding new customers, now Fino and Paytm face restrictions. Fino has had accounts with balances greater than the stipulated INR one lakh and Paytm has had e - KYC issues - See Bloomberg Quint, August 1, 2018. The RBI needs to evaluate the reasons behind the non - compliance and have an open mind to reviewing the regulations, if needed. Disruptions in a new business raise uncertainty and do not serve the purpose of financial inclusion. Finally, when it comes to the digital economy, this piece from MicroSave is a must read – “Amid the excitement of app - based techs, we need to plan for the 2G and no G world if we are to address Sustainable Development Goals for rural populations through technology.” (The white spaces of the digital divide: 3G+ haves and have-nots, July 2018) |
||
|
||
|
||
• Closing India's Gender Gap in Financial Inclusion - Policy Brief, June2018 |
||
|
||
|
||
• Smaller towns make 50% of user base: Paytm • Investors bet on small finance banks as financial inclusion makes way • Regulators, government need to support ATMs for financial inclusion: PwC • How RBI Is Solving P2P Lending Issues And India's Credit Woes • WhatsApp Pay Is No More Beta, Govt Says It Can’t Launch Without India Team And Office • Financial Inclusion: Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full? • Protecting Consumers Means Thinking Like Consumers • Bringing Health Microinsurance to Kenyans via Mobile Phone |
||
|
||
|
||
• Customer-Centric Guide, CGAP, July 2018 • Exploring Blockchain Applications to Agricultural Finance, CGAP, July 2018 • SHGs Should Balance or Break, MicroSave, July 2018 • What do informal groups teach us about what poor people want in their financial services?, MicroSave, July 2018 • Why are friends and family central to the financial choices of Kenyans?, MicroSave, July 2018 |
||
|
|
Editor: sumita@indicus.org The Indicus Centre for Financial Inclusion was launched in 2011 to distil and disseminate information on accelerating the poor’s access to high-quality financial services. ©Indicus Centre for Financial Inclusion. All rights reserved. 5th August 2018. | |
Newsletters from July 2020 are available at https://icfi.substack.com/
... Continue Reading
The availability of... Continue Reading
India’s progress in financial inclusion and digital payments over the past few years has been beautifully brought out by the Economic Survey 2021-22, which has thankfully,... Continue Reading
Last month, in December 2021, the Department of Financial Services constituted a Working Group to go into the issues and challenges affecting the business correspondent (BC)... Continue Reading
Results from the National Family Health Survey Round 5 2019-21 are out, further validating India’s phenomenal progress in financial inclusion – 77.4% of rural Indian women... Continue Reading
This Diwali, we did a quick roundup of India’s financial inclusion progress and picked out the key challenges we need to crack. Laveesh and I have been analysing and... Continue Reading
This Diwali just might see more cheer than expected as the aftermath of the second wave recedes. Several high-frequency indicators have shown a recovery... Continue Reading
India is going through a V-shaped recovery, as the impact of the second wave recedes. However, growth... Continue Reading
As the second wave of the pandemic died down in India, the economy began a patchy recovery –... Continue Reading
With the second wave of the pandemic receded, the economy is picking up slowly. However, local... Continue Reading
The times are bad, very bad. Last year, with a drastic national lockdown, India chose to save lives... Continue Reading
The times are bad, very bad. Last year, with a drastic national lockdown, India chose to save lives... Continue Reading