Karabi Sharma/Guwahati

People in India's northeast can get set for a new UPI (Unified Payment Interface) experience. The new UPI service, HookoluPay, has received a license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) as a digital payment platform using local languages of the Northeast region.

It's likely to be launched by May or June.

Developed as part of a startup initiative by Assam-based entrepreneur Aziz Ali, HookoluPay is likely to help users with most of the local dialects available in the northeast region apart from English and Hindi.The

Ali, a B.Com graduate and an MBA has also kept the option of offline payment in HookoluPay because most places in the northeast still lack high-speed data.HookoluPay is set to break the existing language barrier with the existing UPI services.

"I have started working on HookoluPay in 2018. We got the license from the RBI and the NPCI in November last year. Once launched, HookoluPay will help users in India's northeastern states with their own languages and dialects.

“While India is on the path of digital transformation, one must keep in mind that 60 percent of the people are still not included in the financial services. In many places, particularly in the hilly regions of the northeast people still use cash.

Ali and Anand Kannan displaying HookoluPay at Advantage Assam conclave

“Although there are UPI services like the GPay, PhonePe, PayTm, etc, most of them have English or Hindi language options. HookoluPay will have services in most of the dialects that are available in the region," said Ali while talking to Awaz-The Voice.

Ali, who had set up a stall at the Advantage Assam 2.0 summit to showcase the product, received large-scale encouragement from the visitors. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the stall put up by Ali and appreciated the initiative.

The Prime Minister reportedly asked Ali to take the new UPI service to every nook and corner of the country, mostly in India's northeast where there is still a lack of digital payment services.

"Our main focus behind developing this new payment gateway is to bring more financial inclusion in the rural areas," said Ali who is the founder of HookolyPay. Ali is a native of Jeypore near Naharkatiya in Assam's Dibrugarh district. HookolyPay is a locally developed Fintech startup based in Assam.

An advertisement of the HookoluPay

m Ali's partner and Co-founder of HookoluPay, Anand Kannan said that HookolyPay can be used for institutions, small enterprises, businesses for governments, travel, etc.

"Like any other payment gateway like GPay, PhonePe, PayTm, it can be used anywhere and by anyone. We are going to launch it pan India but our focus area will be Assam and Northeastern states as we are a startup from this region," Kannan said.

"At present, we have the options of Hindi, English, Assamese, Mizo, and some other languages but more languages are being added so that it becomes user-friendly to the people," said Ali.

This will help digital payments in India's northeast, said Ali.

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"Our stall was visited by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India during his visit to the Advantage Assam 2.0 summit on February 24 evening. The Prime Minister's words are very encouraging for us," said Ali while adding that they are also taking this new UPI service to seven other countries which include Singapore, UAE, Bhutan, etc.