All govt transactions to go cashless by Dec. 31

In a significant move to ease the miseries of people struggling for cash, Cabinet secretary P.K. Sinha has directed all the Union Territories (UT), including Delhi, to make all government-citizen transactions cashless by December 31. The move is likely to help the banks to focus more on dispensing currency notes to the needy people and ensure that maximum transactions are made through the banking system.

Once the entire mechanism for the citizen-government cashless transaction is in place, people will be bound to deposit their water and power bills, pay traffic challans and stamp duty through the banking system. So far, power companies in Delhi had been accepting cash payments for less than `5,000 electricity bills.

Following the Cabinet secretary’s directions, a series of measures are being taken up by the AAP government and the Delhi police to ensure that all the government-citizen transactions are cashless in the national capital by the set deadline. Delhi’s principal secretary (finance) S.N. Sahai has called a highlevel meeting with his finance department officials on Tuesday to finalise modalities to make government-citizen transactions cashless by the year-end.

It is learnt that chief secretary Dr M.M. Kutty will also convene a meeting with all the departments of the city government on Wednesday to assess the preparations of the administration to make all government-citizen transactions cashless by the yearend.

Reports suggest that 98 per cent payments of the Delhi government would be made cashless by the yearend. About 95 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) is being collected through banks only. The city government is unlikely to accept VAT by cash after December 31.

Even the Delhi high court is working out a mechanism to make the court fee transactions through banks. The Delhi traffic police is already finalising modalities to make challans through cashless transactions. A high-level meeting of the Delhi police is expected to deliberate on the issue on Tuesday. The city government is already making excise collections through banks.