Instant Inter-Bank Funds Transfer Using IMPS (Inter-Bank Mobile Payment Service)

Did you know, you can transfer funds instantly across banks using your mobile ?? National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched a facility called Inter-Bank Mobile Payments Service(IMPS) on 22nd November, 2010. At present in India, there are close to 60 crore mobile users which is much higher than bank account holders that is 30 crores so allowing funds transfer by mobile will really make a lot of sense for the customers. This blog post will describe at length how to make use of this facility and what are its main features and current limitations.

One natural question arises as to How is it different from NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) and other transfer facilities like RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlements) ??

• NEFT(National Electronic Funds Transfer) : As of now, we all can use National Electronic Funds Transfer(NEFT) for Inter-Bank Funds Transfer but it is not a real time service. It usually takes up to 48 hours to get the funds transferred. Hence the main drawback with NEFT is the time-lag.
  
• RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) is another service, which can be used for Instant Inter-Bank Funds Transfer. Unfortunately it is not designed for common man. Here the minimum transfer amount is 2 Lakhs and this service is  available only during banking working hours, but the good thing about RTGS is its an instant service.  So you could say Special Service for Special People (Read Rich) 🙂
• IMPS (Inter-Bank Mobile Payment System) is designed keeping rural India in mind, where mobile density is pretty good compare to banking sectors’ penetration. So now even common man (of course with less than 2 lakhs 😉 in their account) can transfer funds across banks instantly  IMPS (Inter-Bank Mobile Payment System) is 24×7 fund transfer service and its instant,automated,real time and simple to use as well.

Transfer Process:
At first a mobile customer has to register with his bank to activate mobile banking by installing a special application available at

• ICICI Bank
• Union Bank of India

Even if you phone is not supporting these applications, there is no need to worry. You can complete the transaction via SMS as well. After that a bank account holder will have to get a unique 7 digit number called MMID (Mobile Money Identifier).

What is MMID (Mobile Money Identifier):
Mobile Money identifier(MMID) is a  7 digit number offered by IMPS by which we can send money instantly from our savings bank account using our mobile number.

Steps involved in transferring the money:

1. Enter beneficiary’s 10 digit mobile number
2. Enter beneficiary’s 7 digit MMID number
3. Enter the amount you wish to transfer
4. Provide bank authentication (user/customer ID and MPIN).
5. Once your details are authenticated, the money is transferred instantly from your account.
6. You will also receive an SMS with the transaction status

Steps involved in receiving the money:

1. To receive money to your account via instant money transfer you will need to share your mobile number and MMID with the payee

Complaint:
In case of any problem you can register your complaint by placing a call to Call Center/Customer Care Toll-Free Number 1800 22 22 44. You can also register at the respective branches.

What all banks offer this facility ??
You will be happy to know that currently this service is available for customers having an account in Axis Bank,HDFC Bank, State Bank of India,Bank of India,Kotak Bank,Union Bank of India,Corporation Bank, Lakshmi Vilas Bank,Yes Bank. Soon, it will be made available to other bank customers as well.

Limitation:
The Maximum amount that can be transferred in a day has been set as Rs 50,000.

The most important part is this service IMPS (Inter-Bank Mobile Payment Service) is free till March 2011 an. Although nothing to loose sleep over, even after that NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) will only charge 25 paise per transaction, which is fairly nominal.

So no need to have passbook or to go to bank ,just have your mobile and you can pay anyone like shopkeeper,auto man etc,if you have money in your account 🙂

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Track your PF (Provident Fund) Claim Settlement Account Transfer Online Or On Your Mobile Phone

If you have applied for PF(Provident Fund) Account Transfer or Money Withdrawal but have grown fed up of taking rounds of government offices for Tracking the Status of account transfer and money withdrawal claims, stop worrying and cursing the government system. There is a good news for you and all PF Account Holders. Government has finally taken serious notes of the grievances of 4.72 crores subscribers of EPFO (Employee Provident Fund Organisation) and has introduced a facility by which you can track your PF(Provident Fund)  Queries Online and even on your Mobile Phone via SMS.

You will be glad to know that data of 113 PF(Provident Fund) related offices has already been digitized and the same for remaining Seven offices would be completed by March end. Once all hard-copy records are migrated to soft-copy versions, it may not be required to run around PF (Provident Offices) for status-update on your PF (Provident Fund) queries and claims. In stead, EFPO (Employee Provident Fund Organisation) subscribers will receive intimation via Short Mobile Messages (SMS) about the status of their request for Account Transfer and Claim Settlement.

In case of account transfer PF holders will get two messages. First  message will be for closing the existing PF Account followed by other one about the opening of a new PF account and the amount of money transferred from old to new account. Similarly, in Claim Settlement Requests, first SMS  would be for intimating that the EPFO (Employee Provident Fund Organisation) Office has received your application and when the claim is settled, applicant would get  another message stating the amount is credited in the specified bank account.

But all this is possible only when the applicant mentions his or her personal mobile number in the application form. But it is observed that some of the applicants are somewhat hesitant to provide their personal mobile number and hence can’t avail this Mobile Update Facility. In stead, they can make use of this facility online.

At present this process takes about a month to process any claims, because it involves manual processing of your files at multiple desks. When everything is automated and put online, we can expect things to speed up. So let’s keep our fingers crossed and see when we get the news of this upcoming facilities being made available to end-users.

PAN Card Application, Apply and Track PAN Card Status India

PAN(Permanent Account Number) is a unique ten digit alphanumeric number, which is issued to all entities identifiable under the Indian Income Tax Act 1961. It is issued by the Indian Income Tax Department and is almost equivalent to a National Identification Number. Since its issued by Government Of India, it also serves as an important ID proof for various purposes. Now a days, PAN Number has become almost mandatory for all types of financial transactions such as opening a bank account, receiving taxable salary or professional fees, sale or purchase of assets above specified limits etc.

For any PAN Card issued by Government Of India, first five characters are letters, next 4 numerals, last character letter like AXHPK3478F in which the fourth character shows to whom it belongs, which are following.

• C — Company
• P — Person
• H — HUF (Hindu Undivided Family)
• F — Firm
• A — Association of Persons (AOP)
• T — AOP (Trust)
• B — Body of Individuals (BOI)
• L — Local Authority
• J — Artificial Juridical Person
• G — Government

It is  issued in the laminated form by India’s Income Tax Department.The most important purpose of PAN card is to keep a track of monetary transaction of high net worth and give a unique identification key factor for all transaction and prevent tax evasion.

Why we need it?

• It’s mandatory to have on return of income.
• For sale and purchase of immovable property or vehicle.
• For making payment of more than 25000 Rs. to hotels and restaurants.
• For obtaining telephone or cellular telephone  connections.
• For travelling to foreign country.
• For depositing of cash Rs. 50000 or more in a bank.

How to apply:
A PAN application (Form 49A) can be obtained from IT PAN Service Centers or TIN Facilitation Centers or can be downloaded from different websites like www.incometaxindia.gov.in ,www.utiisl.co.in or tin.nsdl.com.You will need some documents like proof of identity as well as a proof of residence,those should be attached to application form and paste a recent colour photograph (stamp size: 3.5 cm x 2.5 cm) to application form.After that submit the filled form to nearest IT PAN Service Centre orTIN Facilitation Centre or by online with it’s fee.

Tracking the status:
This facility is available only if you have made the payment through Credit Card / Debit Card / Net Banking by online.

• know the application status by twelve digit number of the transaction.
• Alter the payment mode.
• get the acknowledgment receipt printed again in less than thirty days within the submission of the application form.

Thus it is very simple procedure. Being a responsible citizen just apply for PAN card if you don’t have it.

Indian Railways Introduces New Guidelines For Tatkal Ticket Bookings From 11th Feb 2011 : To Carry Original Id Proofs During Travel

Are you planning to travel by train with a Tatkal Ticket on or after 11th Feb 2011 ?? If you are, you should be aware of the New Guidelines introduced by Indian Railways, otherwise you may end up paying a hefty price for your ignorance. In its latest circular released on 31st Jan 2011, Indian Railways has made it mandatory for passengers traveling on Tatkal Tickets to carry an Original Identity Proof during the course of their journey. Failing which they will be treated as Ticket-less Travelers and penalized accordingly.

If there are more than one passengers travelling on the same ticket, any one of the passengers will have to produce any Identity Proof in Original, failing which all passengers travelling on the said ticket will be treated as travelling without tickets and will be charged excess fare and penalty as per rules.

The Tatkal Ticket Booking Scheme was introduced in 1997, with a provision that passengers booking Tatkal Tickets would indicate their Identity Card Number at the time of booking and would be required to carry the same Identity Card during the journey. This provision was subsequently withdrawn in August 2004.

We already have a similar rule in place for all e-Tickets booked through IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation), irrespective of whether its a Tatkal Booking or not. But now that rule has rightly been extended to cover all Tatkal Booked Tickets. According to Indian Railway Officials, the latest move to mandate an Original Copy of ID Card while travelling on a tatkal ticket, was aimed at putting to end massive complaints of Bulk Booking and the role of touts in cornering tatkal tickets. However it has clarified that you don’t need to carry it along while booking the Journey Ticket:-)

These are following 8 Original Identity Cards, which can be carried by passengers travelling on Tatkal Booked Tickets while travelling.

1. Voter Photo Identity Card issued by Election Commission of India
2. Passport
3. PAN Card issued by Income Tax Department
4. Driving Licence issued by RTO
5. Photo Identity Card issued by Central/State Government
6. Student Identity Card with photograph issued by recognized School/College for their students
7. Nationalised Bank Passbook with photograph
8. Credit Cards issued by Banks with laminated photograph

So next time, you go and get a Tatkal Ticket from a Broker/Travel Agent in your surrounding by paying extra, be careful, especially with this new regulation in place after 11th Feb 2011. The circular regarding this new guideline for Tatkal Ticket Booking is available at Indian Government’s website
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=69444

Use Zemanta To Find Related Images Links Articles Automatically And Spice Up Your Blogger BlogSpot Blog

In one of my earlier blog-posts, I had talked about Blogging Assistant Zemanta on WordPress and how it can help you spice up your blog by enriching it with full of Relevant Hyper Links and Images. Well, the good news is, Zemanta is now available on Blogger/BlogSpot as well. So if you are blogging on Blogger and need assistance in finding and inserting Related Articles/Blog-Posts or Images and Hyper Links relevant to your Blog-Post, you have reasons  to be happy. You have Zemanta as your Blogging Assistant, yes an assistant literally 🙂 Here are things you can and cannot do with Zemanta on your Blogger Blog.

What it can do for you ??

1. Links Recommendations : Zemanta will try to link any of the words/set of words inside your Post to something on web. And it does in real time, so as and when you are writing, you can automatically link your content to other web-resources, as shown in the following image

2. Related Images : It will again look up on web and try to find out related images on Web based on your content and give you a list of images to choose. If you want to add any of these photos to your blog, just click on it and they will automatically be added to your post.

3. Related Articles : It will look up on web and give you a list of all related articles on the right side panel. Clicking on any of them will automatically update your blog-post with a footer like the one shown in the following image

Note : All the screen-shots presented here are for a blog I wrote recently on “Shweta Tiwari Declared The Winner Of Bigg Boss Season 4“.

What it can’t do for you ??
Unlike WordPress wherein Zemanta recommends a set of Tags for your blog-post, Zemanta when used on Blogger BlogSpot Blogs doesn’t generate a set of labels (Similar to tags on WordPress) automatically.

How to Enable Zemanta For Your Blogger/BlogSpot Blog ??
By default, Zemanta is turned OFF for your Blogger blog. To enable it, type the following URL in your browser
http://www.blogger.com/zemanta.g
If are  you are not logged into your Blogger account, it will take you a Blogger Sign-In page. Enter your Blogger Username and Password and login. You will end up with a page like the following

If you have more than one Blog registered under the same name, Select the Blog where you want to enable Zemanta and Click on ADD ZEMANTA Button and you are done. Next time, you write a blog-post, you will see all Zemanta recommendations on your Edit Post Page. So enjoy not having to Insert Pictures and Adding Hyperlinks yourself and let Zemanta do it for you and that too for free 🙂