While switching over to the digital mode in terms of financial transactions is welcome, it is unfortunate that the government is now trying to cash in on people’s weaknesses by announcing periodical lucky dips worth crores in order to promote digital payments (“Digital payments made after November 8 can prove lucky”, Dec.16). Instead, such amounts can be spent imparting digital education to the needy. For the success of any programme, a government should rely on awareness and work culture of people rather than misleading them by promising them a fortune or a windfall. Today’s sufferings on account of demonetisation could have been averted had the government well thought out its plan.
Kshirasagara Balaji Rao,
Hyderabad
Demonetisation has been harsh on the elderly. We are allowed to draw a maximum of Rs.24,000 a week but on any day we can draw a maximum of Rs.10,000 only from the savings bank account. This condition makes me to go to the bank on all its working days, but it never works out as there is a huge crowd or the bank soon runs out of money. Thus my ‘attendance’ at a bank is 100 per cent. If there are notes, it is usually Rs.2,000 which proves cumbersome as far as street vendors are concerned. One can imagine the plight of senior citizens in villages.
N. Subramanian,
Chennai
To deal with cashless transactions, 90 crore bank accounts will have to be opened along with a credit card facility which can be integrated with all types of swipe machines. The software has to be good in order to prevent hacking and misutilisation. Machines should also be able to take on the very high capacity of transactions and servers need to be robust.
The government has to facilitate use of cards at any time, anywhere, and for limitless transactions without any transaction commission. Different types of taxes on purchases must be phased out. There must be discounts on payments to essential services.
Vasantal Visweswara Rao,
Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh
The government seems to have finally realised that a cashless economy is actually a less-cash economy, as no economy can be fully cashless (“Digital transactions not a fill-in for cash: Jaitley”, Dec.16). This now raises a question as to what percentage of the economy can be made cashless. For most developed countries, it is between 85 and 95 per cent. Two basic requirements to achieve a high percentage of electronic transactions are the educational level of people and foolproof infrastructure such as 24- hour electricity supply, mobile phone and Internet connectivity across India. The government needs to think of realistic schemes and proceed stage-wise.
J. Fredric Dawson,
Chennai
The difficulties of moving to a cashless economy hit me recently. Buying a piece of furniture from a local shop shocked us the moment we offered to pay by debit card. The owner inflated the price by Rs.2,300, explaining it as the sum the bank charges for transactions using cards. Obviously this was a disingenuous excuse and I wonder what more is in store for us.
Aastha Sharma,
Chandigarh
To argue that demonetisation was a pre-planned, two-stage exercise where the “cashless” concept was deliberately withheld initially so as to pre-empt the resistance that a forced transition would evoke is to take a dim view of readers’ intelligence (“Why ‘cashless’ may be the new normal”, Dec.14). The article has also gone overboard in also claiming that it is “the only way”. I would like to focus on the sentence, “the change to the cashless concept can be brought about through extreme political pressure”. Does this imply that the travails millions of citizens are undergoing through forced multiple visits to banks to access their own money, not to mention workers in the informal sector facing lay-offs that could last weeks or months, are all just part of political pressure deliberately applied to force them to accept the new normal?
S.K.N. Nair,
Thiruvananthapuram
Instead of harping on the long-term benefits of demonetisation, the government must realise the serious consequences of a long-drawn-out cash crunch and resultant hardships. The best the government can do to smooth ruffled feelings is to issue a clear statement on its intent to replace the entire demonetised currency in a specific time frame. This step alone will result in lesser cash draws. Aiming for a lower cash to GDP ratio is a lofty goal but it must be remembered that Japan has a cash to GDP ratio of around 20 per cent and that several developed European countries have a ratio of 9 per cent which is much higher than the global average. Steps to promote electronic payments must take into account ground realities.
Valluri Janaki Ram,
Hyderabad
The government’s over-optimistic aim of becoming a cashless economy has to be proportionate with the infrastructure at disposal. Digital payment technology has to penetrate every nook and corner of the country.
In his exclusive article to The Hindu (“Making of a mammoth tragedy”, Dec.9), former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh mentioned that “more than 600 million Indians still live in a town or village with no bank”. Despite an active drive to tap unbanked areas since 2001, there are still huge gaps.
Sahil Bhatia,
Jaipur
Southern Railway, in association with State Bank of India, has installed point of sale machines at computerised reservation counters in major railway stations across the zone to enable the passengers to use debit/credit cards for ticket bookings. Passengers are saved the risk of carrying liquid cash and change and railway and staff are able to finish work faster. I recommend promotion of such cashless transactions in all service sectors.
C.S. Ananthakrishnan,
Srirangam, Tamil Nadu
The government’s reply to the Supreme Court (“Why do some get new notes, but not others, asks SC”, Dec.16) “that it cannot sit and keep watch in every bank branch in the country” amounts to shedding its responsibility. Most banks now dispense soiled Rs.10, Rs.20 and Rs.50 notes. The new Rs.500 note has yet to reach rural areas. Small traders and grocers are now refusing to accept cards and most citizens are suffering. As the lessons learnt after cyclone Vardah show, there must be space for transactions with physical currency.
C.A.C. Murugappan,
Kothamangalam, Tamil Nadu
