NITI Aayog and Mastercard release report titled 'Connected Commerce Creating a Roadmap for a Digitally Inclusive Bharat'

NITI Aayog and Mastercard yesterday released a report titled ‘Connected Commerce: Creating a Roadmap for a Digitally Inclusive Bharat’. The report identifies challenges in accelerating digital financial inclusion in India and provides recommendations for making digital services accessible to its 1.3 billion citizens.

The Key recommendations in the report include strengthening the payment infrastructure to promote a level playing field for Non Banking Financial Companies-NBFCs and banks and digitizing registration and compliance processes and diversifying credit sources to enable growth opportunities for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. It



also includes building information sharing systems and ensuring that online digital commerce platforms carry warnings to consumers to the risk of frauds. 

Releasing the report, Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, said, technology has been transformational, providing greater and easier access to financial services.He said,  India is seeing an increasing digitization of financial services, with consumers shifting from cash to cards, wallets, apps, and UPI. He said, this report looks at some key sectors and areas that need digital disruptions to bring financial services to everyone.