'Tax rebates to consumers,traders to promote digital payments'

Traders body CAIT today suggested several measures such as tax benefits to both consumer and merchant to promote digital payments in the country.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said to achieve goals like cashless economy and reaching 2,500 crore digital transactions, the government needs to set up a regulatory authority for digital payment systems.
"Tax rebates for consumers for certain types of digital payments will be an important step. Also similar benefits should be extended to merchants either in the form of sales tax," CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal told reporters here.
The confederation has prepared a report on universal access to infrastructure and open payment systems. In this, it has also recommended formulation of a digital payments policy.

The other suggestions include implementation of reward scheme for merchants and consumers; faster adoption of mobile QR code based card acceptance solutions, formation of digital payments board and an authority to monitor Rupay.
Khandelwal said to better encourage universal adoption and socialisation of digital payments, the government should remove requirement for banks to report electronic transactions and make consumers fearless to go for cashless economy.

"There should be no card refusal and no surcharge should be levied on digital payments as it would act as a deterrent to promote such payments. There is a need to increase POS terminals besides allowing non-bank finance companies to issue digital payments," he added.

He urged the government to implement the recommendations of Watal Committee report on digital payments.
"Today 96 per cent of transactions are done in cash and our country has only about 25 lakh POS terminals. This needs to increase rapidly," Khandelwal said.
The government had demonetised high value currency (Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes) last November and has been promoting a less cash economy through greater push on digital payments.
The CAIT will forward these suggestions to the ministries of finance and commerce, and state governments.