Demonetisation: Fee payments in Maharashtra may soon go cashless
Education minister Vinod Tawde got 70 members of his staff to use State Bank of India’s ‘Buddy app’ — the bank’s mobile wallet payment system
The state school education department is considering making school, college and exam fee payments cashless to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move.
On Wednesday, education minister Vinod Tawde got 70 members of his staff to use State Bank of India’s ‘Buddy app’ — the bank’s mobile wallet payment system. “We have asked my ministerial staff to use the buddy app for everday transactions, such as electricity, water and gas bills,” Tawde said. Gradually, the department plans to make payment of fees in Maharashtra state board schools cashless, Tawde said. “We will see if it’s possible to take all transactions online.”
Some schools in Mumbai already have facilities for parents to pay their fees online, some still others are hesitant. At least 12 Delhi Public Schools, for instance, tied up with a mobile wallet service to introduce cashless payment of fees from the academic year 2016-17. Singapore International School, Dahisar, allows students applying from outside the city or country to pay fees online, using a payment gateway provided by the school.
Campion School, Fort, allows parents to pay school fees through a bank gateway on the school website. But Father Francis Swamy, principal, St Mary’s School (ICSE), Mazagaon, and joint-secretary of the Archdiocesan Board of Education that runs 150-odd schools in the city, said, “We spoke to schools that allow online payment, but they said they were facing problems. We decided not to go for it.”
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