DBT Full Form
What is the full form of DBT?
Since its early inception by the Government of India on January 1, 2013, to improve the system of delivering cash subsidies and benefits, Direct Benefit Transfer, or DBT, has come a long way. The program's goal was to transfer subsidies and cash benefits to individuals directly through their Aadhaar-seed bank accounts in the hopes that doing so would significantly reduce leakages and the associated delays caused by the flow of money through multiple administrative offices before it reaches the intended recipient.
Components
Key components in the implementation of DBT schemes include the Beneficiary Account Validation System, a robust deposit and reconciliation platform integrated with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), public and private sector banks, regional rural banks, and corporation banks (core banking solutions of banks, settlement systems of RBI, Aadhaar Payment Bridge of NPCI), etc.
Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB)
One of the innovative payment systems deployed by NPCI, the Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB) System, uses the Aadhaar number as a master key to electronically transfer government benefits and subsidies into the Aadhaar Enabled Bank Accounts (AEBA) of the intended targets. The NPCI has created an Aadhaar mapper to make money transfers easier. This mapper serves as the foundation of the Aadhaar Pay,ments Bridge (APB), allowing NPCI to route payments to the destination Bank and grant credit to DBT beneficiaries based on information about the Banks seeded with the Aadhaar number.
Beneficiary Account Validation
These systems are workflow-based systems for social sector Central Sector, Centrally Sponsored, and State Linked Schemes and include functionalities like beneficiary application for the scheme with bank account/Aadhaar details, scheme owner examination for beneficiary eligibility under scheme guidelines, initiate verification of bank account/Aadhaar, initiate payment through Fund Transfer Order, initiate other MIS related functions, etc. Such systems include MNREGA, PM-AWAS, PM-KISAN, DBT-PAHAL, and others. Even though Aadhaar is linked to payments in many schemes, cases are still processed with bank account numbers in the event that Aadhaar is not available.
Payment And Reconciliation
When a valid beneficiary is chosen, the Scheme IT systems start the payment by sending payment details to the PFMS, which then routes the funds to the banks after the appropriate beneficiary validation. PFMS has developed into a reliable payment and reconciliation system connected with 500+ banks for beneficiary bank account verification and beneficiary bank account Aadhaar seeding verification with NPCI. This pre-validation of the beneficiary account/Aadhaar-connected bank significantly reduced the failure of payments and delays in the beneficiary receiving their money.
Core Banking Solutions
In the DBT process flow, banks play a crucial role as the last delivery service channels. All account-based payments are routed through core banking channels, so processing effectiveness at this stage, in combination with the flow of reverse MIS, gave the DBT programme the needed impetus.
Advantages of Direct Benefit Transfer
There are various Advantages of DBT. Some of them are mentioned here:
The biggest benefit of DBT is that it stops scams. As a result, the government gives the grantee the money directly.
The funds will be transferred immediately to the beneficiary's bank account.
The beneficiary's identity can be better verified with the aid of the Aadhaar number. Given that Aadhaar is a universal ID, the government will be able to recognise the beneficiary using their Aadhaar information.
Conclusion
Between March 24 and April 17, the state governments used PFMS to distribute Rs 9,217.22 crore to 4.59 crore beneficiaries across 180 social initiatives. The DBT structure in India was put under additional strain as the crisis worsened and the number of beneficiaries increased. A total of 47 crore beneficiaries received DBT relief up through October 9 of the 2020–21 fiscal year, totalling 1,41,714 crores. The social costs will be intolerably high if a significant portion of an entire generation loses their livelihood without a social safety net to catch them, according to Balazs Horvath, chief economist for the UNDP in Asia-Pacific.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Bank Mitras/Bank Correspondents, who are employed by different banks and Post Offices, are equipped with handheld computers called Micro-ATMs. You can use this to carry out a variety of banking operations on your Aadhaar-linked bank account, including cash withdrawals, deposits, balance inquiries, mini statements, and money transfers to other Aadhaar holders, among others. On these terminals, "bet finger" detection is also possible.
During Covid 19 when the government ordered a lockdown for 21 days as the problem grew worse. The Public Financial Management System (PFMS) team accepted the challenge and on March 30, 2020, 2.19 crore transactions—the most ever recorded in a single day—were mostly fueled by DBT payments. Under Central Schemes (CS) and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), cash transfers were made utilising the digital payments technology vehicle, Public Financial Management System (PFMS).
When submitting the mandate and consent form to your bank for linking with Aadhaar, you are only permitted to get DBT benefits in one account of your choosing. The Bank will connect this account with NPCI Mapper so that it can function as a DBT account. On the UIDAI website, users can check the progress of the Aadhaar-Bank account linkage.
Please visit the appropriate bank branch and submit the mandate and consent form issued by your bank along with a copy of your Aadhaar if you need to modify the bank account designated to receive DBT monies.
When DBT monies are deposited into your account, the bank will notify you through SMS if you have opted to use the respective bank's SMS alerts service. You can also use an ATM, a micro ATM from Bank Mitra, internet or mobile banking, or phone banking to check your account balance.