Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday assured Parliamentarians that the Centre was trying its best to minimise the common man’s pain due to the demonetisation of high value currency notes.
Mr. Jaitley said digital transactions were a parallel mechanism, not a substitute for cash transactions, while speaking during the fifth meeting of the consultative committee attached to the Finance Ministry. “A cashless economy is actually a less cash economy as no economy can be fully cashless,” an official statement quoted him as saying. “He said that less cash can be gradually substituted to the possible extent through digital payments/transactions.”
Responding to MPs’ concerns regarding the security of digital transactions ecosystem, Mr. Jaitley assured them about the cyber security measures being taken by the banks under the supervision of the RBI.
Saying the government and RBI were fully aware of the challenges in the move to digital transactions and were ensuring strong firewalls around the systems. He also said mock drills were being conducted by the cyber security agency CERT-IN.
Plea for Tamil Nadu
Some members also requested the Finance Minister to relax conditions for Tamil Nadu since the recent cyclone in the State has caused major disruptions in the supply of electricity and internet connectivity.
A presentation was also made to the members on the steps being taken to address the challenges involved in switching to a digital payment economy such as low digital literacy, cybercrime risks and the lack of infrastructure in remote areas. One member also cited the Bangladesh Bank heist, and expressed concern over the state of cyber security if digitisation of transactions is conducted at such a fast pace.
The issue of virtual currency such as Bitcoins was also raised as such currency is believed to be used to hoard black money. Some members raised the concern that Aadhaar alone should not be the basis for bank transactions and that banks should keep their KYC norms strict.
