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Indian residents to benefit from contactless smart card scheme
19 May 2010

Residents in remote villages in India will be able to receive their wages electronically as part of a new contactless smart card scheme, according to businessrediff.com. 

Smaarftech Technologies Ltd has begun to deploy e-shakti smart cards across Eastern India to those in receipt of wages from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).

NREGA entitles rural householders who are willing to do unskilled manual work to one hundred days of employment in every financial year at the statutory minimum wage. 

The scheme would open a separate bank account for each card holder to electronically transfer wages.

Company Director B K Mishra told the news provider: "Alongside, branch-less banking services are also being made available to the e-shakti card holders in partnership with the Central Bank of India."

Employers would also benefit from having electronic records of when workers clock in with their e-shakti cards, while employees can also make quick and secure cashless transactions. 

Officials expect the scheme to be implemented in more areas if it proves to be success.