7.6 lakh citizens win prize money worth Rs 117 cr for paying digitally

Over 7.6 lakh consumers and merchants won prize money worth Rs 117.4 crore under two incentive schemes -- Lucky Grahak Yojana and DigiDhan Vyapar Yojana -- as on February 7, 2017, NITI Aayog said on Wednesday.

Over 7.6 lakh consumers and merchants won prize money worth Rs 117.4 crore under two incentive schemes -- Lucky Grahak Yojana and DigiDhan Vyapar Yojana -- as on February 7, 2017, NITI Aayog said on Wednesday.

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley and Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, Arvind Panagariya at the launch ceremony of the DigiDhan Mela to popularize cashless transactions, in New Delhi on December 25, 2016. (PTI)

“The schemes have seen active participation from both males and females,” a NITI Aayog statement said, adding that the latest data show that Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka have emerged as top five states with maximum number of winners.

According to the statement, a majority of the winners are in the age group of 21-30 years.

The involvement of the elderly challenged the notion that they find it tough to embrace technology to adopt digital payments, it noted.

The two schemes were rolled out on December 25, 2016, and will remain open till April 14, 2017.

Customers and merchants using RuPay card, BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money), UPI (Unified Payments Interface), USSD-based *99# service and Aadhaar-enabled Payment Service (AePS) are eligible for daily and weekly lucky draw prizes.