Digital disbursement of workers’ wages which gained considerable grounds lately following 3 million garment workers opening accounts with the Bangladesh’s mobile financial service (MFS) providers, has taken a hit as many factory owners decided to go back to the traditional modes of paying wages now, underlined media reports.
The digital disbursement of wages got a big boost after the Government, which rolled out Taka 5,000 crore bailout package to pay workers’ wages in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, made it mandatory for stimulus receivers to pay the wages through digital payment gateways so as to maintain transparency.
However, the Government’s fiscal assistance to pay workers’ ending in July, disbursement of salary through MFS fell significantly to Taka 1,064 crore in August compared to that of Taka 4,587 crore in July.
As per the MFS providers as well as industry insiders, this sharp decline is due to apparel makers going back to the traditional ways of paying wages.
According to Head of Corporate Communications of bKash, Shamsuddin Haider Dalim, after payment of the stimulus package ended, many apparel makers returned to the traditional payment methods.
bKash is a renowned MFS provider in Bangladesh.
