India’s flourishing fintech and ecommerce sectors are actively exploring integration with the government’s AI-powered language translation platform, Bhashini. This collaboration aims to provide users with access to multiple languages, facilitating interactions through text and speech in native languages, according to a report by Moneycontrol.
Amitabh Nag, CEO of Bhashini, revealed that various private organizations, particularly in the financial sector, are actively engaging with the platform. These companies leverage purpose-driven data to enhance the testing of Bhashini’s systems, enabling users to access app content, give voice commands for payments, file forms, engage in grievance redressal chats, and more—all in their preferred languages.
Launched in 2022 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the National Language Translation Mission, Bhashini is designed to empower the next generation of government websites for users to access content in their language of choice.
The integration of Bhashini aligns with the efforts of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to boost digital payments accessibility, particularly for feature phone users. Bhashini has collaborated with diverse stakeholders, including the government, academia, research groups, startups, banks, and industry players, to develop various use cases.
The fintech sector, with a focus on banking the unbanked and retail inclusivity, actively participates in proof-of-concepts (POCs) with Bhashini. Paytm is reportedly among the fintech firms in discussions with Bhashini for system testing, with major announcements anticipated by the end of 2024.
Bhashini’s applications extend beyond financial transactions. It is involved in developing services for the PM-Kisan app, providing information to farmers in their preferred local languages through text and voice using AI chatbots. The Reserve Bank’s frictionless credit system also utilizes Bhashini’s translation system for digital lending.
With support for 22 languages in text-to-text translations and 12 in voice-to-text, Bhashini continues to evolve. The platform is actively working on formulating six additional languages to address data collection challenges, involving a dedicated team of 200 individuals.
