BHIM app to add support for 7 regional languages by the end of this week: Report
Bharat Interface for Money or BHIM app is all set to be updated with support for regional languages. The app is currently limited to Android and is available only in English and Hindi languages. With the upcoming update by the end of this week, the app will have support for seven other regional languages including Bengali, Odiya, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.
“In the upcoming version, which will be launched in a couple of days by the National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI), around seven new regional languages are expected to be integrated with the app along with the improvements in usability of the interface,” a report on Livemint quotes an unnamed person associated with the development of the app. Regional language support has been one of the most sought after features by users of BHIM app since its launch last month. Vijaynanda Prabhu, vice-president, Client Engagements, Reverie Language Technologies, one of the companies working to enable regional languages on the BHIM app, further said, “The regional language is expected to go live very soon. Over the next three- four months; Punjabi, Marathi and Assamese are most likely to go live on the BHIM app.”
The BHIM app, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), is a common UPI app which aims to be a one-stop solution for carrying out digital transactions. The app requires one to register through their phone number and choose their bank. The app works in the same way as the Paytm app. Once successfully registered, users can then use BHIM app to send and request money either through registered numbers or via scanning QR codes. Within 20 days of its launch late December 2016, the app has already raked in 1.1 crore downloads.
The immense popularity of the app has not been a smooth ride. Soon after its launch, users of the BHIM app started reporting spam attacks. They complained that they were receiving unknown payment requests. This prompted the NPCI officials to warn users not to accept such requests and assured that an updated version of the app will be rolled out to fix the issue.
In the last update, the app came with a new feature that allows users to report spam requests. Additionally, it now links to 35 private and public sector banks including UCO Bank, Bank of India, YES Bank and TJSB Bank. Currently, there is a limit of Rs 10,000 per transaction and Rs 20,000 within 24 hours for transfers through the bank account.
Last week, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced that following the successful release of BHIM on Android, the government will soon launch an iOS version of the app which will come with multi-language support. Other than BHIM app, the government will also be launching a new Aadhaar-linked payment system.
BHIM app to add support for 7 regional languages by the end of this week: Report
