Digital payment does not require education : Dharmendra Pradhan

Making a push for digital payment post demonetisation, at petrol pumps across the country, Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday asserted that for making digital payments, a person does not require education.

"A normal person uses an ATM card and he does not require any education regarding it as only remembering the password would suffice. What we are asking people is that inspite of taking out cash from the ATM and then using it to buy petrol, common people should directly use the card and it is just a matter of practice," he said.

Pradhan told ANI here that Centre has installed infrastructure to accept not just credit and debit cards but e-wallets and mobile wallets as an alternative to cash.

"In the country already 80 crore people possess cards and 40 lakh of them are active. Along with that they can use the petrol pump for drawing out the money. 20 crore card holders will be beneficiaries" he added.

Pradhan quickly rebutted the opposition's concern over the security aspect of the digital payment and he said, "Pin is a personal issue so where is the question of hacking . There is a new infrastructure and opposition needs to support it. Country is working on a new economic model."

Pradhan today launched Customer Awareness Campaigns for digital transactions at Auto Care Centre, a flagship HPCL Retail Outlet at Niti Marg, New Delhi.

The Customer Awareness Campaign focuses on spreading digital awareness and persuading the common man to use cashless payment options for day to day transactions.

With the introduction of cashless payment options like credit and debit cards, POS terminals, e-Wallet options and loyalty cards at retail outlets, the campaign reinforces the fact that convenience lies in being cashless in today's time. The various digital payment solutions available to the general public, were also showcased.