The financial burden of interoperability for digital wallets under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) will be borne by beneficiaries, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Saleem Ullah told a National Assembly panel on Thursday.
Briefing the Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, chaired by Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, he said transaction charges would apply only to cash withdrawals, while online transfers and RAAST fund transfers would remain free of cost.
The committee was briefed on BISP digital wallet interoperability, enforcement of compliance by participating banks, beneficiary compensation and administrative restructuring. According to the SBP, two private microfinance banks will operationalise interoperability of BISP digital funds by July 16 and July 20, while integration by all six participating banks is expected to be completed by July 31.
Ullah said the full digitalisation of beneficiary accounts and mandatory online functionality was planned by December 31 this year. He added that the transaction cost would be set at Rs280, with the SBP notifying a schedule of charges every six months.
The committee expressed concern over a lack of public awareness about the digital wallets and what it described as shortcomings by BISP in enforcing bank compliance. It asked BISP management to establish a stronger implementation mechanism and ensure that banks were properly facilitating beneficiaries.
Secretary BISP Amer Ali Ahmad told the committee that a district-wise report on bank performance would be submitted.
The panel was also informed about a March incident at a distribution point in Rahim Yar Khan in which multiple BISP beneficiaries were killed or injured after a roof collapse. According to the briefing, BISP penalised a private microfinance bank for negligence.
The committee was told that Rs2 million was paid to the family of each deceased person and Rs500,000 was provided for the treatment of the injured, with the amount recovered from the bank’s share.
The meeting was attended by committee members Huma Akhtar Chughtai, Makhdoom Tahir Rashid, Ilyas Choudhary, Naima Kanwal and Arshad Abdullah Vohra, along with senior officials from the Poverty Alleviation Ministry and its attached departments.
