Acknowledging that farmers have been among the hardest hit by the cash crunch due to demonetisation, the Union government on Wednesday announced a special window of Rs. 21,000 crore to district central cooperative banks to ensure smooth agriculture-related operations during the current rabi season.
The government also began a new phase of its demonetisation policy and efforts to make the economy less dependent on cash by boosting digital transactions.
Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told presspersons that the Rs. 21,000 crore would enable these banks to sanction and disburse crop loans to farmers through the network of primary agricultural cooperative societies.
He said nearly 82,000 of the 2.2 lakh ATMs in the country had been recalibrated to dispense new currency, adding that within a few days the remaining ones would be covered. On seizures of unaccounted-for cash, Mr. Das said the Revenue Department would soon make a statement on the exact quantum. He said the currency printing presses were working at full capacity in three shifts to replenish the notes.
Incentives for e-payments
The government announced a slew of incentives to help promote digital transactions.
Pointing out that 30 crore RuPay debit cards had been issued with a 300 per cent growth in their use in the past 12 days, Mr. Das said the banks had decided to waive transaction charges on using them up to December 31.
The National Payments Council of India had waived switching charges for RuPay cards.
No transaction charges
Further, public sector banks and some private sector banks had decided to waive transaction charges till December 31. Private sector banks are expected to do likewise, Mr. Das said.
Besides, Railways have decided not to levy service charges on e-tickets up to December 31.
To promote greater usage of payments through e-wallets, the RBI has decided to increase the monthly transaction limit for individuals from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000. Similar enhancements have also been announced by the RBI for merchants. On other measures to boost digital transactions, Mr. Das said the telecom regulator TRAI has decided to reduce the USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) charges from the current Rs. 1.50 per session to 50 paise per session for transactions relating to banking and payments. The TRAI has also increased the stages from current five to eight. He said the telecom companies have also agreed to waive the above 50 paisa USSD charge per session for the period up to December 31.
RFID tags
Another focus area is to reduce the time spent by vehicles at the check posts and toll plazas.
Therefore, the Road Transport and Highways Ministry had advised automobile manufacturers to provide Electronics Product Code Global Incorporated-compliant Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) facility in all new vehicles, Mr. Das said.
