Context

• DigiVaarta was launched in Delhi with the express intention of spreading awareness on DigiDhan, and also to spread popularity of BHIM’s barcode-based merchant payment mode with merchants and traders at large. 

Components of DigiVaarta

• An SMS application which operates from NIC’s SMS Gateway on a special Short-code service allotted for this purpose by DoT with the number “14444”. 
  • Citizens will receive SMS messages which are pre-approved by experts and the response messages will be made available for further action, analysis and research. 
  • The Government proposes initially to pay for the citizen’s response so as to promote citizen’s engagement and make the awareness program completely free for the citizen.
• A Mobile application version of DigiVaarta, which can be accessed and used by smart phone users. This app can perform many more function beyond chat, offers audio-video tutorials etc 

Aims and Objectives of DigiVaarta

• The initiative aims to enable citizen government dialogue and engage citizens in educational and outreach programmes. 

• With the mobile phone as its interface, DigiVaarta’s content and communication style is interactive and adaptive. 

• The same message can be used to interact with both smart phone and feature phone users. 

• It can engage the user over multiple channels in a 2-way interaction, using different content styles (stories, images, videos, discussions and polls) in different languages. 

• DigiVaarta has been launched to spread awareness amongst the common public on digital payment topics such as BHIM, Aadhar Enabled Payment Systems (AePS), Bharat QR, and Security Do’s and Don’ts to begin with.

Source:PIB