The Comptroller General's Department, with support from the Commerce Ministry and state-run and commercial banks, will speed up the installation of electronic data capture (EDC) machines to meet the full number of 18,000 in November, according to department director-general Suthirat Rattanachote.
Ms Suthirat said that about 18,000 shops have been selected to join the government's programme for low-income people to buy necessities with state welfare cards. The Comptroller General's Department sent the list of these Thong Fah shops to Krungthai Bank on Oct 3.
Since receiving the list, the bank has so far installed about 6,000 EDC machines - not enough to service the huge number of welfare cardholders.
Some of the EDC machines were reported to have a problem with a weak signal.
The Comptroller General's Department, the Commerce Ministry, and state-run and commercial banks have agreed to install 9,500 more EDC machines in registered Thong Fah shops before the end of October - almost enough to meet the full number of 18,000.
Priority will be given to Thong Fah shops in remote areas with a large number of welfare card holders, Ms Suthira said.
The Commerce Ministry will also publish information on the Thong Fah shops selected to join the programme on its website.
