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ICT and E-Governance

The ICT helps to simplify tasks, make the government processes more efficient
and the delivery of government services more effective. It also can improve
citizen participation in governance.

E-Governance in India has steadily evolved from computerization of Government

Departments to initiatives that promotes citizen centricity, service orientation and
transparency.

The concepts in e-governance include,

• Management Information System (MIS) – refers to the processing

of information through computers and other intelligent devices to manage
and support managerial decisions within an organization
• Decision Support System (DSS) – for development, planning and
responsive administration in governments which led to the genesis of
present day “e-Government” concept
• Bridging the Digital Divide
• Social and Financial Inclusion through ICT
• Reaching- the-Unreached

Government Schemes

Digital India : In order to transform the entire ecosystem of public services

through the use of information technology, the Government of India has
launched the Digital India programme with the vision to transform India into a
digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. ICTs can positively
contribute to the growth of the economy, employment and productivity.

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The Digital India programme is centred on three key vision areas:

• Digital Infrastructure

• Governance & Services

• Digital Empowerment of Citizens

Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI) platform:

• Is a multi-purpose and multi-modal platform

• The platform is aimed at addressing common man’s grievances, and
simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programmes and
projects of the Government of India as well as projects flagged by State
Governments.
• The PRAGATI platform uniquely bundles three latest technologies: Digital
data management, video-conferencing and geo-spatial technology
• It is a three-tier system (PMO, Union Government Secretaries, and Chief
Secretaries of the States)

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• Prime Minister will hold a monthly programme where he will interact with
the Government of India Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries through
Video-conferencing enabled by data and geo-informatics visuals
• The system has been designed in-house by the PMO team with the help
of National Informatics Center (NIC).

National Informatics Centre (NIC):

Has emerged as a “prime builder” of e-Government / e-Governance applications

up to the grassroots level. The activities are

• Setting up of ICT Infrastructure

• Implementation of National and State Level e-Governance Projects
• Products and Services
• Consultancy to the government departments
• Research and Development
• Capacity Building

Has taken up various initiatives like Government eProcurement

System(GePNIC), Office Management Software (eOffice), Hospital Management
System (eHospital), Government Financial Accounting Information System
(eLekha), etc.

NIC is supporting a majority of the mission mode e-Governance projects.

The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP)

NeGP was approved in 2006 to take a holistic view of e-governance initiatives

across the country, integrating them into a collective vision. As result,

• massive countrywide infrastructure reaching down to the remotest of

villages is being developed
• large-scale digitization of records is taking place

NeGP comprises 31 mission mode projects (MMPs), which are further classified
as a state, central or integrated projects. Each state government can also
define five MMPs specific to its individual needs.

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• Most of these projects have been made operational and have started
providing services.
• However, e-governance as a whole has not been able to make the
desired impact
• The availability of electronic government services to citizens was still low
• Lack of needs analysis, business process re-engineering, interoperability
across MMPs, and coping with new technology trends (such as mobile
interfaces, cloud computing) were some of the limitations

This has led to the adoption of a new plan e-Kranti or NeGP 2.0

e-Kranti / NeGP 2.0

e-Kranti was approved in 2015 with the vision of “Transforming e-Governance

for Transforming Governance”. e-Kranti is an important pillar of the Digital India
programme. The approach and methodology of e-Kranti are fully aligned with
the Digital India programme.

There are 44 Mission Mode Projects under the e-Kranti programme.

• A mission mode project (MMP) is an individual project within the National

e-Governance Plan (NeGP) that focuses on one aspect of electronic
governance, such as banking, land records or commercial taxes etc.
• The projects have clearly defined objectives, scopes, and implementation
timelines and milestones, as well as measurable outcomes and service
levels.

MCA21 – It is an e-Governance initiative of Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA),

Government of India that enables an easy and secure access of the MCA
services to the corporate entities, professionals and citizens of India.

e-Government Procurement (e-GP) Mission Mode Projects – to create a

national initiative to implement procurement reforms, through the use of
electronic Government procurement, so as to make public procurement in all
sectors more transparent and efficient

Computerization of the PDS - covering key functional areas such as supply

chain management including allocation and utilization reporting, storage and
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movement of food grains, grievance redressal and transparency portal,
digitization of beneficiary database, Fair Price Shop automation, etc.

e-Districts – they are the de facto front-end of government where most

Government-to-Consumer or G2C interaction takes place. To improve this
experience and enhance the efficiencies of the various Departments at the
district-level, e-District project was envisaged to enable providing of integrated
and seamless delivery of citizen services by district administration through
automation of workflow, backend computerization and data digitization across
participating departments.

eCourts Mission Mode Project : The eCourts Mission Mode Project, is a Pan-
India Project, monitored and funded by Department of Justice, Ministry of Law
and Justice, Government of India for the District Courts across the country.

GI Cloud initiative 'MeghRaj' : In order to utilise and harness the benefits of

Cloud Computing, Government of India has embarked upon an ambitious
initiative - "GI Cloud" which has been named as 'MeghRaj'. This initiative is to
implement various components including governance mechanism to ensure
proliferation of Cloud in the government.

Sevottam : Sevottam is an assessment - improvement model that has been

developed with the objective of improving the quality of public service delivery
in the country. The word "Sevottam" is a combination of two Hindi words: Seva
(Service) and Uttam (Excellent). It means “Service Excellence”, emphasizing the
idea of “Service”. It symbolizes the change in mindset within the Government,
from administration and control to service and enablement.

Digital Payments

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI): It is an umbrella organization

for all retail payments system in India. It was set up with the guidance and
support of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association
(IBA). NPCI was incorporated in December 2008.

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Services Offered

Switching of inter-bank ATM transactions

• Cheque Clearing
• Immediate Payments Service (24x7x365)
• Automated Clearing House
• Electronic Benefit Transfer
• Domestic card payment network named RuPay

High-value Payments

Systemically important payment systems (SIPS) are payment systems which

have the characteristic that a failure of these systems could potentially
endanger the operation of the whole economy.

In the large-value payment systems, RBI has implemented Real Time Gross
Settlement (RTGS) System, the Securities Settlement System (SSS), Electronic
Clearing Services etc

Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS)

• Real Time Gross Settlement is a funds transfer mechanism where a

transfer of money takes place from one bank to another on a ‘real time’
and on ‘gross’ basis.
• This is the fastest possible money transfer system through the banking
channel.
• Settlement in ‘real time’ means payment transaction is not subjected to
any waiting period.
• Gross settlement’ means the transaction is settled on one to one basis
without bunching with any other transaction.

Securities Settlement System (SSS): SSS provides final settlement for

government securities transactions that are settled in the books of the RBI

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• With the implementation of the Core Banking Solution (CBS) in
the RBI, the securities settlement system has been migrated to the CBS
platform.
• SSS has facilitated the seamless transfer of funds and securities
for liquidity management purposes.

Electronic Clearing Service (ECS)

• ECS is an electronic mode of payment/receipt for transactions that are

repetitive and periodic in nature.
• ECS is used by institutions for making bulk payment of amounts towards
the distribution of dividend, interest, salary, pension, etc., or for bulk
collection of amounts towards telephone/electricity/ water dues, cess/tax
collections, loan installment repayments, periodic investments in mutual
funds, insurance premium etc.
• ECS facilitates a bulk transfer of monies from one bank account to many
bank accounts or vice versa.
• ECS includes transactions processed under the National Automated
Clearing House (NACH) operated by National Payments Corporation of
India (NPCI).

Retail Payments

The payment and settlement system comprises various arrangements that are
used to systematically, efficiently and securely transfer money/currency,
cheques, demand drafts, and money through various electronic channels. The
commonly used systems for small-scale payments are

· Paper-Based Payment Systems – Cheques, Drafts, etc.

· Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs)

· Electronic Payment Systems – Gross Settlement System and Net

Settlement Systems.

· Immediate Payment Service (IMPS)

· Credit cards and Debit cards

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· Mobile Banking System

· Point of Sale (POS) Terminals

Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)

Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) have become an important delivery channel

for banking transactions in India, particularly for cash withdrawal and account
balance inquiry. There are three different types of ATMs according to their
label, which are as follows:

1. Bank’s own ATMs: These ATMs are owned and operated by the owner bank
and carry the Bank’s logo.

2. Brown Label ATMs (BLAs): These ATMs are not owned by the sponsor
banks. They are owned and operated by third parties (non-banking companies).
They carry the logo of the bank outsourcing the service.

3. White Label ATMs (WLAs): These ATMs are owned and operated by a non-
banking company and serve the customers of all banks. These ATMs carry the
logo of the company owning them. The role of the concerned banks is limited
to providing only the account information and assisting in back end money
transfers.

Electronic Payment Systems

The two methods available are – Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and
National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT)

NEFT

• Is one of the most prominent electronic funds' transfer systems in India.

• NEFT system has no minimum or maximum fund transfer limit.
• Persons with no banks accounts can also use this facility
• The transactions are processed and settled in batches, hence are not
real time.
• Also, the transactions can be done only during the working hours.
• Currently the majority of interbank mobile fund transfer transactions are
channelized through NEFT mechanism.

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Immediate Payment Service (IMPS)

NPCI conducted a pilot study on the mobile payment system with the banks
like SBI, BOI, UBI and ICICI in August 2010. Immediate Payment Service
(IMPS) public launch happened on 22nd November 2010

• IMPS offers an instant, 24X7, interbank electronic fund transfer service

through mobile phones.
• Can be done through mobile, internet and ATM.
• Is not only safe but also economical both in financial and nonfinancial
perspectives.
• For IMPS transactions, either the IFSC code of the bank or the bank-
generated MMID code is required
• This facility is provided by NPCI through its existing NFS switch.

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI)

• The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a new system developed by

the NPCI and the RBI to aid instant transfer of money using a cashless
system.
• Through this platform, the person can transfer money from his account to
other person’s account directly, provided both are connected to the UPI.
• One just requires a smartphone and a banking app to send and receive
money instantly or to pay a merchant for a retail purchase.
• In the long run, UPI is likely to replace the current NEFT, RTGS, and
IMPS systems as they exist today.

UPI, which was launched in August 2016, currently has over 35 member
banks. To use this service, customers need to have a UPI-enabled app, a bank
account and a registered mobile number.

Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) Is the Android smartphone application

launched by the government

• Will eliminate the fee currently being charged by the private card
companies such as “MasterCard” and “Visa”

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Other UPI payments apps

• There are over 30 such apps available in the country, Google’s Tez is
the latest to the addition
• Tez relies on just the phone number to transfer money. So even if you
don’t know the UPI account details of the recipient, you will be able to
send money by just entering a Tez user’s phone number.
• Unlike Paytm, it isn’t a digital wallet, so you won’t be able to store
money in Tez.

Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)

The idea is to have bills of any type paid from anywhere using an
interoperable bill payment network for the whole country. In August 2016, the
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) had a pilot launch of Bharat Bill
Payment System (BBPS). The pilot involved bringing the billers on one side
and the bank customers on the other side through their service providers to the
central platform.

• The service providers from biller side and customer side are referred to
as Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs)
• The central platform being provided by the NPCI is called Bharat Bill
Payment Central Unit (BBPCU).
• The NPCI organizes clearing and settlement of transactions processed
through the central unit.
• The NPCI has received the final authorization from the RBI to run the
central unit as a strategic business unit (SBU).
• NPCI will be responsible for setting business standards, rules, and
procedures for technical and business requirements for all the participants
• NPCI, as the BBPCU, will also undertake clearing and settlement
activities related to transactions routed through BBPS
• Currently, only five categories of utility bills are permitted through NPCI —
power, telephone, DTH, water, and gas.

Aadhar Pay : The Aadhaar Pay app lets consumers pay without any physical
payment instrument.

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• It runs on the Android platform and has to be installed by merchants.
• The merchant’s mobile phone needs to be linked to an Aadhaar
biometric reader.
• To make a payment, the consumer has to just enter her Aadhaar
number. The fingerprint is the password for the transaction.
• To use this service, the customer has to first link her bank account to
her Aadhaar.

Bharat QR Code

• A QR code is a machine-readable matrix, which you can scan with your

smartphone to pay. At present, various payment companies and banks
provide different QR codes.
• The government launched Bharat QR code to provide a common QR
code solution, which will be interoperable across payment networks.
• Is developed jointly by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI),
Visa, MasterCard and American Express under instructions from Reserve
Bank of India (RBI).
• It works as a common interface for the MasterCard/Visa/ RuPay platforms
and also facilitates acceptance of Aadhaar- enabled payments and
Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
• It eliminates the need for using card swiping machines for digital
payments.

Digital Wallets

• A digital wallet refers to an electronic device that allows an individual to

make electronic transactions.
• This can include purchasing items online with a computer or using a
smartphone to purchase something at a store.
• An individual’s bank account can also be linked to the digital wallet.
• Most banks have their own e-wallets
• Private companies’ e-wallets are. e.g. Paytm, Freecharge, Mobikwik,
Oxygen, mRuppee, Airtel Money, Jio Money, itz Cash, Citrus Pay,
Vodafone M-Pesa, SpeedPay etc.

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• The launch of UPI, BHIM, and Bharat QR gave banks a bigger boost,
making their apps more convenient, faster and cheaper for customers to
use than wallets .

*99# service

• One of the innovative payment service launched by NPCI includes *99#

service, which works on Unstructured Supplementary Service Data
(USSD) channel.
• When you dial a number that starts with * and ends with #, you are
using USSD. *99# service was dedicated to the nation in 2014 as part
of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).
• USSD is currently the best available communications technology to
deliver mobile financial services to low-income customers.
• With the notable exception of M-Pesa in Kenya, the majority of large-
scale mobile financial services (MFS) deployments in the developing
world use USSD as their primary mechanism for communication between
customers and their mobile payments platform. These include bKash in
Bangladesh; Wing in Cambodia; EasyPaisa in Pakistan; Tigo and M-Pesa
in Tanzania and EcoCash in Zimbabwe.

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