Steps to sustain the big success that our DBT Mission has been

Context: Government welfare transfers amounted to Rs 5.52 trillion in 2020-21, compared with a mere Rs 7,367 crore in 2013-14. To further improve the performance of DBT Mission, better incentives for agents and a mechanism for grievance redressal is needed.

Challenges before DBT framework

• Point of contact agents operating in losses:
  • The banking agent network is the only touchpoint for people living in locations that are inaccessible and/or not well-served by public transport.
  • With low revenues, service quality tends to be given a pass.
  • Major challenge – Inadequate compensation paid by the government.
  • The issue of agent viability and service quality is not a direct responsibility of the DBT Mission. It falls under the department of financial services in the ministry of finance.
• Issues associated with different payment mechanisms: 
  • Union government uses the NPCI channel; states use NEFT and RTGS.
  • Many transactions are not reported in the overall DBT count, which results in an understatement of the overall impact of DBT transfers.

Way forward

• Addressing the issue of agent viability and service quality: Indicus Policy Brief of March 2018 had suggested, an institutional mechanism that updates the costing exercise regularly is required.
  • Commission charges for agents should be differentiated specific to the location: They should be higher for rural areas where economic activity is low.
  • Addressing gender divide: By enrolling and having more women as banking business correspondents.
• Streamlining beneficiary identification and enrolment: DBT Mission has already initiated the process of allowing eligible beneficiaries to apply for available schemes directly.
  • It is important for governments to keep eligibility criteria simple for benefits schemes.
  • Enrolment of beneficiaries through UMANG app based on eligibility parameters can also be done through banking correspondents and not limited only to common services centres.
• Bring in effective customer grievance redressal mechanism: A systematic process for it must be mapped out for the multiple layers of authorities involved in the DBT programme’s last-mile delivery.