NPCI Brings Digital Payments Helpline DigiSaathi To WhatsApp

DigiSaathi, a 24*7 helpline for providing information on digital payments products and services, will now be available on messaging platform WhatsApp, the National Payments Commission of India (NPCI) said in a statement.

“DigiSaathi will be accessible on WhatsApp for the customers to access all the information they need pertaining to digital payment products and services,” the payments body said.

DigiSaathi was launched in March 2022, along with the launch of UPI123Pay, which enables the use of the real-time payment system UPI on feature phones.

Users can access the helpline by simply texting +91-892-891-3333 via WhatsApp. Before this, the helpline was only available on two channels – via calling at 14431 and 1800-891-3333, and with the help of a chatbot available at the DigiSaathi website.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das launched the helpline, which is right now available in two languages – English and Hindi, on March 8, 2022.

The helpline allows users to get help on all sorts of digital payments, including cards (debit/credit/prepaid), UPI, NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, AePS, NETC, BBPS, USSD, PPI, Wallets, ATM, QR (UPI/Bharat), NACH, TReDs, CTS, MTSS, mobile and net banking.

According to the payments body, the Consortium of Payment System Operators, along with the Payments Council of India (PCI), multiple banks, PPIs, fintech companies and card networks, among others, were brought together to develop the helpline.

The RBI said that ‘DigiSaathi’ uses AI technology to answer any questions related to all sorts of digital transactions. It said, “DigiSaathi will help answer customer queries across multiple products and services and boost their confidence in the digital payments ecosystem.”

Speaking of DigiSaathi, the RBI Governor had said, “DigiSaathi is all about further enhancing the consumers’ trust in the digital payments ecosystem.”

“The 24*7 helpline will further augment RBI efforts such as ‘RBI Kehta Hai’ to enhance consumer trust in the digital payments ecosystem,” Das added.

With the launch of the helpline on WhatsApp, the NPCI has repurposed the chatbot technology it has been using on the website to revert to users on the messaging app. NPCI said it will be launching the helpline on other social media channels as well, though it did not name any channels.

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