Going cashless will take at least 15 years: Experts

EXISTING RBI guidelines stipulate that merchants should maintain a current account which should have at least `50,000 of transactions per month.

Bankers say total cashless transactions at all levels will not be easy, particularly for small traders.

RBI guidelines stipulate that merchants should maintain a current account which should have at least `50,000 of transactions per month. They must also submit supporting documents like firm registration, trade licence, photograph of the business establishment etc.

Mr M.S. Kumar of Allahabad Bank said that simply procuring a POS (point of sale) swipe machine was not enough and there were formalities for integrating it with a bank account.

“Merchant establishments can take these machines to carry out the sale of goods or services to customers in a cashless environment. The POS will have a faster application processing and needs net connectivity. Merchants should also pay monthly charges and a nominal fee,” he said.

Mr Kumar said that the merchant must have a current account with a bank.

“The merchant should be in the retail trade and shall not be in the VISA/MasterCard negative list for malpractices. The merchant should have a turnover through cards of about `50,000 per month. The merchant must have a fixed landline connection for a normal EDC terminal. Otherwise he will have to apply for GPRS enabled machines,” he said.

Kailash Agarwal, a merchant in Amberpet, said that a commission should be paid to bankers in cases of fewer transactions per day.

“Mostly, traders with lower transactions alert customers on the additional transaction charge. If the trader has more than 100 transactions per day, like at petrol bunks, the banks will not charge any additional fee,” he said.

General Secretary of the All India Bank Officers’ Association, S. Nagarajan, said that it could take at least 15 years for India to achieve a complete cashless society because of the digital illiteracy in the country.