Govt launches BHIM 2.0 with new functionalities, additional language support

The BHIM app, a UPI-based payment interface developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), enables real-time fund transfer and was launched in December 2016.

Govt launches BHIM 2.0 with new functionalities, additional language support

Tuesday October 22, 2019,

2 min Read

The Indian IT Ministry on Monday unveiled a slew of new initiatives and programmes, including BHIM 2.0 that packs in new functionalities, supports additional languages, and has increased transaction limits.


Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also launched a StartUp Hub portal and the Indian Software Product Registry at the IT Ministry's 'MeitY Start-up Summit'. The portal is to work like a social media platform for all the stakeholders of the ecosystem, including incubators, accelerators, mentors, angel funds, and venture capitalists.


The BHIM app, a UPI-based payment interface developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), allows real-time fund transfer and was launched in December 2016.


"In order to make the BHIM app more feature-rich and effective, it has been enhanced with a bunch of new functionalities. Some of the striking features marking BHIM 2.0 include a 'Donation' gateway, increased transaction limits for high value transactions, linking multiple bank accounts, offers from merchants, option of applying in IPO, gifting money...," an official release said.


Ravi Shankar Prasad

Ravi Shankar Prasad




The new version of BHIM also supports three additional languages—Konkani, Bhojpuri and Haryanvi—apart from the existing 13.


The MeitY StartUp Hub (MSH) has been envisioned as an overarching collaborative platform enabling national coordination and facilitation and as an interconnected centre for all the activities of the tech startup ecosystem. The MSH will support startups in connecting with mentors and facilitate their scaling from ideation to the marketplace.


"MSH portal brings onboard key constituents of the tech startup ecosystem with startups, technology incubation centres, Centres of Excellence (CoEs), mentors, VCs, and angels together. It is also mandated to integrate existing programmes and innovation-related activities of Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY)," the release said.


The Indian software products registry, also launched by the minister, will act as a single window portal and a collated Indian software product database.


(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)



(Edited by Athirupa Geetha Manichandar)