State tops in e-transactions across the country

Telangana has the highest cumulative number of e-transactions per 1,000 population among all States in the country between 2014 and 2022.

The State has consistently stood third in terms of the yearly number of e-transactions per 1,000 population in the last three years since 2019 as per the ‘e-Taal’ portal of the Central government.

While Telangana had 1,38,266 transactions, Andhra Pradesh with 1,37,264 transactions stood second; Kerala with 1,31,016 transactions was third. Incidentally, Gujarat with 72,935 was fourth, followed by Tamil Nadu at 43,133 transactions for the top five positions.

State report

Telangana Socio Economic Outlook 2002 report presented in the Legislative Assembly showed that the Mee Seva centres from where citizens can access government services in the online mode has been handling up to 1.5 lakh transactions daily.

About 800 services of 90-odd departments are said to be available through this mode in more 4,500 Mee Seva centres with bill payments of electricity and phone bills along with police complaints and tax payments being most popular. Yet, there has been a decline in the number of citizens served through Mee Seva since 2015-16 when the highest of 4.15 crore citizens utilised the facility to just 1.11 crore now.

This is being attributed to the increasing number of digital payment apps, penetration of internet facilities and digital wallets facilitating transactions through mobile phones. However, the Mee Seva application continues to serve a significant number of citizens across the State, especially those in remote areas with little or no access to internet facilities, said the report.

The government’s own ‘T App Folio’, an integrated app saw 14.75 lakh downloads and records close to 2 lakh transactions per month. It showed a 42.04% increase in the number of citizens served between 2019-20 and 2020-21. T Wallet is the State-owned digital wallet launched in 2017, which can be accessed online as well as in ‘no phone’ mode for both government and private transactions.

Users can avail 1,032 services across 73 departments, including payment of tolls, utilities, and government benefits/subsidies wherever possible. As of February 2022, a total of 1,29,4085 users and 15,827 merchants were registered for T Wallet, and 11,59,179 government and 1,55,27,521 non-government transactions were carried out, said the report.