GeM, Central Bank of India sign MoU for payment services

Government e-Marketplace (GeM), the government owned public procurement portal for central and state government departments and public sector undertakings,  has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Central Bank of India. 

Under the partnership, the Central Bank of India will offer services including transfer of funds through GeM pool accounts (GPA), advising of electronic performance bank guarantees (e-PBG) and earnest money deposit (EMD) to the registered users on the portal, a press statement said.

The deal was signed by Rajeev Kandpal, chief finance officer, GeM and AK Mishra, field general manager, Central Bank of India in the presence of Talleen Kumar, chief executive officer of GeM.

The government-run platform also said that it is working with banks, trade receivables discounting systems (TReDs), and small industrial development bank (SIDBI) to provide bill discounting and financing of working capital.

GeM said that it has already signed MoUs with 18 public sector and private banks to enable the services, the statement added.

The government plans to convert GeM into a public limited company, according to a separate report by the Mint.