Incentives in offing for going cashless
NEW DELHI: The government will push digital payments afresh as they appear to have lost momentum a year after the promotion of cashless transactions was announced as a key policy objective of demonetisation.
As improved supply has made cash the preferred mode of payment again, the government plans to incentivise apps such as BHIM and the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) — the interface for utility payments — and make digital payments easier, according to a ministry note.
The incentives could include cashbacks and reward points for BHIM users. As competition intensifies among private mobilewallet operators, the government is looking to promote BHIM while ensuring compliance with a strict cybersecurity protocol.
The note presented last week by the ministry of electronics and information technology to Parliament’s standing committee on finance detailed a five-step road map to push e-transactions.
“Digital payments to be made visibly cheaper than cash,” the note said.
About 99% of remonetisation of the banking system was complete by August, according to RBI data.
From their highest volume of 957.5 million seen in December last year, digital transactions stagnated in the past few months, data show. The transactions dipped to 861 million in July and rose to 883.4 million in August, only to decline again to 865.8 million in September.
Interoperability between digital payment platforms will be introduced in six months, officials said. NEW DELHI: The toxic air in the National Capital Region worsened on Wednesday, forcing the administration to sound the alarm and announce tougher emergency measures in an attempt to reverse the trend.
As the average daily air quality index (AQI) hit a season-high 478, the lieutenant governor of Delhi banned the entry of trucks inside city limits, halted all construction activities, and ordered civic bodies to enforce a fourfold hike in parking fees. Schools will remain shut till Sunday.
In a high-level meeting attended by members of the Supreme Court-appointed pollution control panel (EPCA) and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, L-G Anil Baijal asked the Delhi government to prepare for oddeven road rationing if the situation worsened.
Though the scheme, which allows only odd- and even-numbered vehicles to operate on alternate days, was to be implemented if the AQI breached the “severe+” mark of 500, the EPCA and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) urged the L-G to treat the current condition grave enough to roll out the measure.
“The CPCB task force has advised EPCA that given the prevailing air pollution emergency in the city, there is a need to take