Our Bureau

The Business Correspondents Federation of India (BCFI) has sought a Rs 5,000 incentive per agent for the next six months as an incentive to help them tide over difficulties in the lockdown.

“In the last two months, there has been a surge in transactions, and a decline in range of viable transactions. Low ticket withdrawals increase the cost of servicing for BCs, on account and their average income has gone down,” noted Seema Prem, CEO, FIA Global.

While some banks such as State Bank of India and Union Bank of India have been helping, the BCFI has called for the incentive for agents.

Harish Raghu, CEO, Saggraha, also noted the moratorium had led to stoppage of collection activities, while disbursements were also low.

Sasidhar Thumuluri, Chairman, BCFI and MD and CEO, Sub-K Impact Solutions, said 80 to 85 per cent of BCs have been active despite the lockdown, and need to be supported with an honorarium.

“The network should be made use of by the government and banks. They are not sufficiently leveraged. Loans for MSMEs, street vendors have been announced. BCs are well poised to service these requirements and can be viable,” he added.

A typical agent gets a compensation of fixed income as well as a variable income, based on the number of transactions. The fixed income component is based on performance criteria, which is about 100 transactions per month.

comment COMMENT NOW