The Reserve Bank of India has decided to include FASTags and National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) in the e-mandate framework to make it easier and convenient for users to replenish balances, said Governor Shaktikanta Das.
“The adoption of e-mandates for recurring payment transactions has been increasing. It is now proposed to include payments, such as replenishment of balances in FASTag, National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), etc. which are recurring in nature but without any fixed periodicity, in the e-mandate framework. This will enable customers to automatically replenish the balances in FASTag, NCMC, etc. if the balance goes below the threshold limit set by them. This will enhance convenience in making travel/mobility related payments,” said the Governor in the Monetary Policy Committee announcements on Friday.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
This essentially means that users will not have to manually refill the cards after the money amount depletes beyond the chosen limit.
WHAT IS E-MANDATE?
E-mandate or electronic mandate is a standing instruction provided by the user to the issuing bank and other institutions to automatically debit the chosen/prescribed amount in the mandate from the user’s bank account digitally.
E-mandate, basically eases the digital payment service to suit the various payment needs of the people. The e-mandate, once set up, does not subsequently require any personal interaction. It was initiated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Initially, the mandate was offline, but e-mandate was gradually introduced.
E-mandate can be conveniently used for various functions such as bill payments, SIPs, insurance payments, OTT subscriptions etc. Even though there is no requirement of human intervention, the e-mandate is required to send the user a prior notice of debit at least 24 hours in advance.
WHAT INFORMATION IS REQUIRED FOR E-MANDATE?
Depending on which bank and platform you are using the e-mandate, you will have to furnish certain details. Typically, for e-mandate, the following types of information are required from the user:
- Bill information including consumer number, meter number, plan name, policy name etc
- E-mandate start date
- E-mandate end date
- E-mandate limit amount