Ajay Singh
Chief Executive Officer
Forbes Technosys Ltd
“The Forbes platforms is highly efficient can be readily linked with the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System,” says Ajay Singh. In Conversation with Mohd Ujaley.
You have a strong focus on BFSI sector. How do you look at some of the key flagship programmes of the government such as Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and MNREGA?
Forbes Technosys Ltd has a wide range of solutions for BFSI sector, all of which are designed with latest technology and by ensuring security standards that are in line with the changing landscape of banking and financial systems. To facilitate the cause of Financial Inclusion, MNREGA and DBT, we have developed an entire range of both centralised and doorstep delivery solutions, which can be utilised depending upon the requirements of the government, and the accessibility related factors in the remote areas. Forbes has installed centralised delivery solutions, which aim to provide solar energy to the rural areas and also provide wide range of banking and other services. A large number of other government schemes can also be linked through these solutions, thereby increasing the viability of these solutions. We are also delivering doorstep solutions which are specially designed for use by BCs in remote areas to provide basic banking services. To increase the scalability of Forbes Solution range, all the Forbes platforms have been provided with multifactor authentication systems, which can be readily linked with the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS).
You have been working for the government for quite some time now. How has been your experience?
Other than BFSI domain, we are catering to sectors like power and telecom. We have deployed self service bill payment kiosks in almost all the major power utilities and telecom companies.More than `1000 Crores is being collected annually through our systems. Forbes Technosys has Government (DGS&D) certified information kiosks and various G2C (Government to Citizen) kiosks, which are deployed at various Municipal Corporation and Government departments like Tourism, etc. Our ATVM (Automatic Ticket Vending Machines) and POET (Passenger Operated Enquiry Terminals) machines are active in majority of metro railway stations. Forbes Technosys has developed Enterprise Mobility solutions and Canteen Management applications. We cater to many PSUs, which have large employee base. We have also developed HR leave management solutions and tourism kiosk. These kiosks can act as point of information and action for employees of those organisations and also for the visitors. Forbes has also developed cash and cheque collection solutions for insurance companies, and tax departments. For environmental awareness, Forbes also has developed Carbon Footprint Kiosks, which are placed at various government institutions, thereby offering a unique experience to visitor, for calculating his Carbon footprint and making him aware for reducing these. We have developed self-service solutions, through which citizens can interact with the government departments.
In order to facilitate financial inclusion of people from remote areas across the country, government has developed the plan to introduce micro-ATM and Business Correspondents. Do you see this space as a business opportunity?
As a first step towards driving these unbanked masses into the banking stream government is looking for various initiatives like micro-ATM, Business Correspondents, etc. This is indeed a noble initiative and it will help in bringing more transparency in the way financial subsidies are managed. However, the system has its own constraints. In my opinion, the best possible way to check leakages and ensure safety of the payment system is through Electronic Cash Transfer. In this case the beneficiary gets access to his entitlement only after authenticating himself through the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System.
Aadhaar is indeed a revolutionary step forward, however de-duplication of the data seems to be the biggest challenge. What is the best way forward?
The data captured through the Aadhaar System should be linked with different government organisations like banks, NIC, Police department, Municipal Corporation, RTO etc., for maximum advantage. The data captured should be fragmented and disseminated to the involved government departments. The government should also promote and deploy self service platforms and solutions, which are based on biometric authentication along with user account details, this will certainly lead to more efficiency and transparency.
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