World’s first ever MissCall-based payment system launched for citizens of Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Government today launched the world’s first MissCall-based payment system ‘MissCallPay’ at the State’s first-ever Fintech Festival – an initiative to enhance the adoption of digital payments and promote Bhubaneswar as a fintech hub of East India.

‘MissCallPay” solution is aimed at serving 90 million Indian mobile subscribers, who are still not on UPI. Users who find it challenging to use UPI apps on smartphones do so primarily due to digital illiteracy. MissCallPay enables any kind of payment by just giving a missed call, be it for an electricity bill, a gas bill, a merchant transaction at a store, a mobile recharge, or even a person-to-person payment.

MissCallPay runs on newly launched UPI 123pay rails of NPCI and was unveiled by the RBI Governor to increase penetration of UPI-based digital payments into the hinterlands of India and is in line with the government’s objective of accelerated, inclusive and resilient growth by enabling digital payments for all, so as to uplift the economy as well as the weaker sections by means of financial inclusion.

MissCallPay is tied up with the following entities to provide fintech services in Odisha:

On its launch, MissCallPay started providing services to three establishments in the State; the first being TP Western Odisha Distribution Limited (TPWODL) – an initiative to provide convenient bill payment service to electricity subscribers in western Odisha. The TPWODL is a joint venture between Tata Power Company Limited (Tata Power) and the Government of Odisha and is headquartered in Sambalpur.

Apart from the partnership with TPWODL, MissCallPay is also a service provider to Mission Shakti – a project of the Odisha government that gives livelihood to around 70 lakh women in the State in a self-help group (SHG) setting that provides sensitive support structures to take the rural poor households out of poverty through capacity building, financial assistance and self-reliant institutions.

Moreover, MissCallPay has enabled simple MissCall-based payment by farmers to SFAC and NAFED and supported farmer-producer organisations for the procurement of seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and the farming equipment required during an ongoing crop season in Odisha. The State is a frontrunner in the country when it comes to launching initiatives for farmers. The government was one of the pioneers in forming the Odisha Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) Policy, 2018. Currently, there are more than 500 FPOs being promoted and supported under government policies and schemes, in line with the Central government-laid scheme for the formation and promotion of 10,000 FPOs. Now, with MissCall, rural Odisha would be a pioneer of digital payment growth in the hinterlands of our country.

Speaking on the occasion, Founder and CEO of MissCallPay Mitesh Thakker said, “At MissCallPay, we are focused on leveraging the technology to simplify UPI digital payments, particularly for our elders and digitally challenged users, and everyone, in general, can do digital payments by just giving a MissCall.”

“Launching of this digital solution at Odisha Fintech Festival with the State’s esteemed organisations like TPWODL, Mission Shakti and 27 FPOs is very welcoming and encouraging, as the State government is very proactive in doing innovative things for the benefit of its people,” Thakker added.

How MissCallPay works:

This method of payment is very easy to use; one can use it with either a feature phone or a smartphone and transactions are carried out in Odia language and 11 other Indian languages.

Payment can be made remotely; the person does not have to be in the store as well. All the person needs to do is to give a miss call; he gets a callback, and on the callback, he confirms the TPWODL Bill amount or, in the case of merchant payment, enters the amount followed by a UPI PIN. The payment gets done directly within seconds from the user’s bank account, like in any UPI App payment.

The Security Angle:

In terms of security, the payment method is quite secure, as payment only gets done when the user receives a call-back from 080-6907-9999; such a call-back comes within 2 to 10 seconds, which is a smaller window period than that of OTP, which makes it secure.

Almost everyone in India knows how to speak and listen, unlike using smartphone apps; this ensures that people don’t get cheated as people are doing payments using their basic skills, unlike using some mobile app that may be in English that they may have to learn.

The first transaction takes place in about 2 minutes, and later transactions happen in a few seconds. This payment system is built using NPCI’s UPI 123 pay rails and BBPS. Hence, the next billion people are able to make the payment in an easy and secure manner.