ISLAMABAD, Sep 22 (APP):Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme, Senator Rubina Khalid Tuesday said that women beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) will have greater freedom in accessing their payments under the new Digital Wallet and interoperable payment system, enabling them to withdraw funds from any authorized retailer of any of the Programme’s six partner banks anywhere in Pakistan. She was addressing beneficiaries during a live E-Kachehri held at …
BISP payment system opens up greater flexibility for beneficiaries: Rubina Khalid
ISLAMABAD, Sep 22 (APP):Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme, Senator Rubina Khalid Tuesday said that women beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) will have greater freedom in accessing their payments under the new Digital Wallet and interoperable payment system, enabling them to withdraw funds from any authorized retailer of any of the Programme’s six partner banks anywhere in Pakistan.
She was addressing beneficiaries during a live E-Kachehri held at BISP Headquarters, where she directly heard complaints and queries from callers from different parts of the country and issued instructions to concerned officers for their prompt resolution.
The E-Kachehri was broadcast live through BISP’s official Facebook account as part of the Programme’s ongoing public outreach and grievance redressal efforts.
As many as 31 callers contacted the Chairperson by telephone and apprised her of their issues and complaints. Senator Rubina Khalid directed the concerned officers to resolve all complaints on a priority basis and submit immediate reports on the action taken.
She said that, on the directives of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, BISP had introduced the Digital Wallet system to ensure secure and transparent transfer of payments to beneficiaries, describing it as a gift from the Government of Pakistan for their convenience.
Under the interoperability system, she said, beneficiaries would no longer remain restricted to a particular city or a particular bank’s retailer and could receive their payments anywhere in the country, at any time, from any authorized and trusted retailer of HBL, Habib Microfinance, Bank Alfalah, Telenor Microfinance, Bank of Punjab and Mobilink/Jazz Bank.
To receive payments, beneficiaries must have their original CNIC and complete biometric verification.Senator Rubina Khalid said beneficiaries whose CNICs had expired should immediately renew their identity cards through NADRA to avoid any difficulty in receiving payments.
She also urged beneficiaries who had not yet obtained their free Benazir SIM, or had obtained a SIM from another source, to obtain the free SIM only from their nearest BISP office. Beneficiaries should bring their original CNIC and personal mobile phone for the purpose.
She stressed that the Benazir SIM should not be obtained from any franchise, retailer or unauthorized person, nor activated through an unauthorized source.
The SIM would be activated at designated BISP sites by representatives of the relevant mobile phone company.
The Chairperson further advised beneficiaries to ask BISP staff to insert the SIM into their mobile phones themselves when the SIM was issued.
Explaining the payment process, she said that once funds were transferred to a beneficiary’s Digital Wallet, the relevant bank would send a payment-transfer confirmation message to the Benazir SIM. Beneficiaries should check this message before visiting an authorized retailer to collect their payment.
After withdrawal, a second confirmation message containing details of the amount withdrawn would be sent by the bank. She advised beneficiaries to retain both messages safely as a record of their transactions.
Senator Rubina Khalid also cautioned beneficiaries against handing over their mobile phones to any retailer, agent or other person while receiving their payments.
Regarding the BISP survey, she clarified that its purpose was to determine a household’s eligibility for BISP assistance. Once a survey had been conducted, another survey could not be carried out before completion of two years.
She, therefore, advised beneficiaries not to repeatedly visit BISP offices merely to have their survey conducted again.
