People visiting the Transport Department office need not worry about cash payment and can opt for (debit or credit) card-swiping now. The department is introducing PoS (point-of-sale) machines for transactions and has procured 45 PoS machines for the purpose.
The e-PoS machines have been distributed at all the RTA offices and check-posts to pave the way for cashless transactions. In the wake of the ongoing demonetisation woes, the department has switched to the electronic mode that also brings in transparency. “In the next couple of days, we’ll acquire another 45 devices to tide over the cash crisis. Till December 31, the department will accept both cash, and card and from January 2017, we will switch to 100 per cent cashless transactions,” Transport Commissioner N. Balasubramanyam told a press conference here on Tuesday.
Mr. Balasubramanyam said immediately after the demonetisation was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, the department realised that drivers on road would face difficulty in transactions.
“We spoke to the RBI, acquired the PoS machines and after redesigning it slightly, pressed it into service from today [Tuesday],” he said.
Difficult phase
The Transport Commissioner said the department would take this difficult phase as an opportunity to introduce cashless transactions on a permanent basis to curb corruption besides its other benefits. Referring to reports of ACB raids at regular intervals to track down unaccounted money, he said use of PoS machines would end the need for availability of cash in transport offices. Mr. Bala Subramanyam also denied reports that there was a dip in revenue generation by the department. “There is no such dip and we are still in growth mode,” he maintained, adding: “We are the first government department’s tax-collecting wing to switch over to use of e-PoS.” All RTAs across the State collectively earn a revenue of 7 crore per day. Deputy Transport Commissioner E. Meera Prasad and other officials were present.
