The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) is a major government scheme or program launched by the Government of India on January 1, 2013, to reform the delivery of subsidies and welfare benefits. It was created to solve the problem of widespread inefficiencies, corruption, and leakages in the traditional, paper-based system, which was famously noted to allow only a small fraction of funds to reach the intended beneficiaries.
The core mechanism of DBT involves transferring cash benefits or subsidies directly into the bank accounts of beneficiaries, eliminating intermediaries. This process is facilitated by the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), which acts as the common platform for routing the funds. Payments are often processed using the Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB), which leverages the unique Aadhaar identity number for accurate targeting and de-duplication.
DBT is intrinsically linked to the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) trinity, which provides the necessary digital infrastructure for financial inclusion and secure transfers. The scheme is overseen by the DBT Mission, which was initially under the Planning Commission and was later placed under the Cabinet Secretariat on September 14, 2015, to give it greater impetus. Since its launch, the scheme has been significantly expanded across the country from December 2014 and now covers over 300 Central schemes.