Central Government to mandate QR Code Based Payment

The Central Government is planning to mandate a Quick Response (QR) code based payment method option using Unified Payments Interface (UPI) at all shops.

Details:

• The prime idea behind the proposal of mandatory QR code-based payment is to make digital payment more popular and bring a behavioral change in the ecosystem.
• The GST council approved the proposal.
• The move will also provide a GST benefit to both shops and consumers.
• The government has for the project roped in National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to work on a necessary mechanism to launch it nationally.
• The QR code payment is reported to have witnessed exponential growth in consumer adoption in ASEAN countries.

Advantages of QR code payment:

• Consumers can buy goods and services without the need to swipe plastic cards.
• Records necessary information related to the transactions
• Data loss and security breach are minimized.
• It can also be introduced on invoices.
• It is cost effective compared to the POS machine.
• As per an estimate, it costs about $1 to put up a laminated QR code sign at a shop.

About QR Code:

• It was first designed in 1994 for the automotive industry in Japan.
• QR code is said to store over 4000 alphanumeric characters.
• A QR code uses four standardized encoding modes (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, and kanji) to store data efficiently, extensions may also be used.
• It consists of black squares arranged in a square grid on a white background, which can be read by an imaging device and processed using Reed-Solomon error correction until the image can be appropriately interpreted.
• The required data is then extracted from patterns that are present in both horizontal and vertical components of the image.
• QR codes often contain data for a locator, identifier or tracker that points to a website or application.

Question:

Q. The Central Government is planning to mandate which particular payment method option using Unified Payments Interface (UPI) at all shops?
a. Facial Recognition (FR) based payment method
b. Quick Response (QR) code based payment method
c. Retinal Scan (RS) based payment method
d. Finger Print Authentication (FPA) based payment method