PhonePe plans to hire more than 20,000 frontline sales personnel and deploy over 50 lakh payment devices during the next year as it expands its merchant network deeper into towns and villages.
The company said around half of the planned SmartSpeakers and POS devices will be deployed in rural India, including Tier-6 towns and villages.
PhonePe said the recently announced MDR framework enables it to take a longer-term approach to merchant expansion, while a proposed fund using 5% of MDR collections for small-merchant expansion is expected to support investments in deeper rural markets.
The company also said the new labour codes introduced last year are helping it hire an on-roll workforce faster through streamlined compliance.
The expanded frontline workforce will be used to reach merchants in smaller towns and villages, onboard them onto digital payments, complete KYC, deploy devices and provide continuing merchant support.
PhonePe said a larger digitally active and KYC-compliant merchant network can also give eligible businesses access to a wider range of formal financial services, including credit offered by lending institutions.
