Remove service tax on card-based transactions: Indepay

Payments firm Indepay Networks on Friday urged the government to remove service tax from all card-based transactions to promote digital payments.

"Removal of service tax in case of all card-based transactions is essential. This exemption should, in fact, apply to banking correspondents as well, in order to extend the reach of financial inclusion to the remote and under- banked and non-banked areas of the country," Indepay Network President and CEO Rajib Saha said in a statement.

He also emphasised on the need to encourage digitisation of agriculture cooperative societies, Regional Rural Banks, and Cooperative Banks.

The prepaid network of Indepay works in collaboration with banks, existing payment networks and wallets to enable cashless transactions.

Post demonetisation, the government has been pushing for a less cash economy and promoting digital transactions in a big way. Digital payment channels like mobile wallets, USSD and RuPay have seen massive uptake and rise in transactions post demonetisation of high value currency on November 8.