Right after one month of the bold move to demonetize 86% of currency, Indian Govt. has announced a slew of incentives and discounts for encouraging cashless transactions.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley arranged a press conference, wherein he informed the nation that some major changes have been witnessed due to the demonetization move, and efforts are on to reduce the inconvenience.
He said, “Today its one month since PM announced demonetisation decision and in last 30 days we have seen major changes in economy,”
He announced 11 major perks ranging from low fuel costs to removal of OTPs for choosing cashless mode.
Contents
1) Cheaper Petrol For Going Cashless:
A flat 0.75% discount has been announced for anyone who purchases petrol/diesel using cashless mode. This is one big step towards encouraging even more digital transactions, as now vehicle owners would be inclined to go cashless. In Delhi, petrol would be now cheaper by 0.49 paisa if one decides to pay via card and diesel would be cheaper by 41 paisa.
2) Cheaper Sub-Urban Railway Pass:
Effective January 1st, 2017, a flat 0.5% discount would be provided to all holders of sub-urban railway pass, if they decided to purchase the tickets/passes via cashless mode. This will encourage lakhs of daily passengers to opt for cashless mode.
3) Insurance Cover For Going Cashless:
Insurance worth Rs 10 lakh would be provided only for those passengers who opt for cashless mode of payments. Currently, this insurance is worth Rs 1 lakh.
4) Discounted Rail Catering:
5% discount for those passengers who opt to pay via cashless mode for ordering railways catering and retiring rooms.
5) Less Insurance Cost For Going Cashless:
Public sector insurance companies will offer massive discounts for going cashless. While 10% discount has been proposed for General Insurance, 8% discount for Life Insurance has been proposed. Note here, that these discounts are only for purchasing insurance, and not premiums.
6) Less Toll Charges For Cashless Mode:
Another major decision for encouraging cashless mode: Flat 10% discount for all digital mode of payments at toll plazas across the nation.
7) No Service Tax for Card Transactions:
As we shared earlier, there would be no service tax for sub-Rs 2000 transactions done using cards (debit/credit)
8) More PoS Terminals:
In a major decision, it was announced that 2 PoS terminals would be installed across 1 lakh villages, which have less than 10,000 population. These PoS would be installed at Milk & Agriculture Co-operatives
9) Less Charge for PoS Terminals:
Maximum fee of Rs 100 would be charged by Public sector Banks for using their PoS terminals.
10) RuPay Cards for Farmers:
Around 4.3 crore farmers having Kisan Credit Card would be offered RuPay card, so that they can make cashless payments now. Regional and Co-Operative Banks would be roped in for this massive exercise.
11) No Additional Charges for Cashless Payments:
All Central Govt departments and Public Sector undertakings have been informed that the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) and transaction charges would not be transferred to the customer, in case of a cashless transactions. Hence, bill payments and other utility bills can now be paid without any additional cost, using cards.
During the press conference, it was revealed that more and more transactions are now happening via cashless mode, and the trend is encouraging. For instance, Rs 1800 crore worth of fuel is purchased daily in India, out which 20% was being paid digitally before the demonetization move.
However, post-demonetization, the percentage of cashless transactions for purchasing fuel has gone up to 40%, which means that Rs 360 crore worth of fuel are being purchased digitally, daily.
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