Centre rolls out Bharatkosh e-wallet to ensure timely certification of aircraft, crew

With an aim to ensure timely certification of aircraft and crew, the government has rolled out an e-wallet payment option on a pilot basis on its non-tax receipt portal, Bharatkosh. Initially targeted at the processing of fees for various regulatory approvals, the facility will act as a prepaid wallet enabling users to add funds in advance, according to an official statement. 

The move is aimed at addressing the low success rate of the payment of regulatory fees through the banking route, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Monday. 

How the e-wallet facility will work

• Users will be able to add funds into the e-wallet in advance and utilise them to make payments towards performing tasks such as getting aircraft or crew certified. 
• Once deposited as advance, the value in the e-wallet will be available to users to utilise towards such tasks, “with no further banking intervention”. 
• The process will enable the generation of receipts and challans instantly, eliminating the problem of failed bank transactions. 
• The facility will only be available to registered Bharatkosh users, wherein a unique wallet ID will be generated for each user to manage the wallet transactions.
• Only NEFT and RTGS payment modes will be allowed to add funds to the e-wallet under the pilot run. 

In a separate development, authorities inaugurated a combined complex, called UDAAN Bhawan, at Safdarjung Airport in New Delhi to house the offices of various organisations under the civil aviation ministry, such as DGCA, BCAS, AAIB, AERA and AAI.

The complex, the implementation of which was executed by the AAI, addresses the need to accommodate the total number of personnel at one place considering the nature of operations.