Union Budget 2023-24: Govt To Launch DigiLocker For MSMEs, Startups

Delivering her Budget 2023-24 speech in the Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced plans to launch DigiLocker storage and sharing services for MSMEs and other business entities, including startups, to enable more innovation in fintech services.

For the uninitiated, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology launched the Indian Digital Document Wallet service, called DigiLocker, in 2015 for individuals. It allows citizens to store and share their documents such as driving licence, Aadhaar, educational degrees and certificates, among others.

In her speech, the minister said that a similar digital document wallet will be launched for business entities as well. “An entity DigiLocker will be set up for MSMEs, large businesses and charitable trusts. This will be towards storing and sharing documents online securely, whenever needed with various authorities, regulators, banks, and business entities,” Sitharaman said.

Hailing the existing digital infrastructure of India and fintech services, FM Sitharaman stated that fintech services in India have been facilitated by the country’s digital public infrastructure, including Aadhaar, PM Jan-Dhan Yojana, video KYC, India Stack, and UPI. To enable more innovations in the fintech sector, the scope of documents available in DigiLocker for individuals will be expanded.

Commenting on the announcement, Aditya Kumar, cofounder and CEO of fintech startup NIRO said, “The expansion of Digilocker services will be a boon for the fintech sector – further facilitating seamless and low-cost access to authentic information about consumers.  This will allow fintechs to increase segment coverage, reduce turn-around-times and offer cost savings which can be passed onto consumers.”

DigiLocker: Issued 5.6 Bn Documents To 145.9 Mn Individuals

DigiLocker has so far onboarded over 14.6 Cr individuals on the platform and issued 5.6 Bn documents. Among the top issued documents are Aadhaar Card, policy documents, PAN verification records, and insurance policies for two-wheelers.

It has 2,311 issuers, of which the top issuers are UIDAI for Aadhaar, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, all states for driving licence and registration documents, New India Assurance Co. Ltd and Income Tax Department.