BHIM app fails to give cash back, citizens raise concern

Hyderabad: National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) BHIM app that promised to give a cash back has been failing to do so since June. Several citizens have raised concern over this. 

While the number of transactions increased after such an offer was announced, many users complained that from June, they never received a cash back. As per the scheme given earlier, the cash back needs to be credited by 10th of each month. In order to encourage users to make digital payments, NPCI initiated #BHIMse for users to get Rs 51 as cash back on first transaction. A customer could get a cash back up to Rs 750 every month and merchants would get Rs 1,000. A regular user would get Rs 25 as cash back for every unique transaction, with a minimum value of Rs 100, and a maximum cash back of Rs 500. However, on July 17, NPCI said that the cash back for BHIM transactions would be restricted to new users. Users alleged that it is the only app in country that did not give the promised cash back. Several users took to Twitter and raised multiple complaints regarding this.

A user, one Harish Singaluri from Vijayawada said, “More than 40 days passed and still the cash back under the BHIM scheme has not been credited into my bank account by NPCI for the transactions I have done. Despite writing e-mails to them, there has been no progress.”

Users alleged that if one person gets duped for Rs 100, it could be massive when numerous people use it.  

One  S. Raja Babu said: “I have been using BHIM and never got a cash back. On Tez, Paytm, it gets credited quickly. They does not seem to reply to complaints either and seem to be misleading people”. Users also alleged that random users received credit in a particular month and soon, the scheme was changed completely. There is a need to look into the cash back incentive whether it was just a propaganda, as money was not delivered.

When contacted, BHIM was unavailable for immediate comment. However, marketing strategists said early adoption of any wallet happens when users are incentivised. A marketing strategist, on condition of anonymity said: “Any wallet or payment app works only when they offer incentives to users, especially if money is involved. Apps get big adoption numbers only when incentives flow in and to ensure that users keep using their app, they continue it in some form or the other. It is evident from some established private players who still offer cashback incentives”.

Meanwhile, GST Council on Saturday approved incentivising digital payments through BHIM app by giving cash back of 20 per cent of the total GST amount, subject to a maximum of Rs 100.