CSR: PayNearby aims to handhold 10 crore citizens for Covid-19 vaccine registration from kirana stores

MUMBAI: Mumbai, 29th April: As India prepares for the third phase of the world’s largest vaccination drive making it available for everyone above 18 years, PayNearby, India’s leading branchless banking and digital payments network, has rolled out plans to leverage its wide distribution network to assist citizens in enrolling for the vaccination program.

15 Lakh PayNearby retail touch points across 17,500 PIN codes will be leveraged to create community awareness around the program and assist citizens to overcome tech and language barriers, and seamlessly register themselves on the CoWIN app. This step is in sync with the government’s efforts to immunize the country at an accelerated pace.

The second wave of COVID-19 has gripped the country and in order to overcome this pandemic, everyone needs to get vaccinated at the earliest. The government has strictly prohibited walk-ins at the vaccination centres and has made it mandatory for all in the 18-44 age group to register themselves on the CoWIN portal or the Aarogya Setu app from May 1st, 2021 onwards. However, most of the population, especially across semi-urban and rural India are not tech-savvy enough to register themselves successfully on smartphones or website. Additionally, they are also inhibited by language barriers which can hinder the registration process.

To combat this challenge, PayNearby has introduced a CoWIN registration module within its trade app, that will enable PayNearby Digital Pradhans to seamlessly assist local communities to register for the vaccination process. The single click, easy access to CoWIN app from within the PayNearby app at all retail stores in the country will not only help create momentum for the program, but also solve for citizen’s language and tech barriers.

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The module will include content that drives home the message around the importance of immunization to eradicate coronavirus and will help create large scale community awareness for the program. With this initiative, PayNearby aims to register 10 crore citizens, especially across semi-urban and rural India.

Digital Pradhans, who have tirelessly served the country with essential financial services during the pandemic, will double up to create vaccination awareness in their local communities, and also handhold them through the registration process. The effort will be to steamline the entire journey, and through pro-booked appointment slots also reduce chaos and crowding at the vaccination centres.

Speaking on the development, Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby said, “As India fights the worst-ever pandemic wave, PayNearby is committed to doing our humble bit to ensure every citizen in the country is vaccinated at the earliest. Flattening the COVID-19 curve eventually rests on judicious vaccination deployment and we are dedicated to accelerating this process through our Digital Pradhan network.

The kirana stores have always been a crucial part of the Indian economy as well as an important hub for community exchanges. They enjoy a very high level of trust and familiarity in their local areas. This local trust will be channelized to create social awareness around the importance of immunization and also assist citizens limited by tech ability and language barriers to seamlessly register for the vaccination program.

“Assisted registrations and pre-scheduling of appointments at retail stores will prevent flocking at immunization centres and help people observe adequate social distancing norms which is critical at this juncture to put a check on the virus spreading any further. Our Digital Pradhans have shown great resilience and spirit of selfless service throughout the pandemic and provided uninterrupted service to ensure citizens had access to essential financial resources to fight the deadly virus. I feel humbled that together we can again contribute to ensuring seamless implementation of the immunization drive and create a safer future for everyone.”, the company said.