Transaction cost waiver to boost digital payments: CAIT

Traders' body CAIT today said the removal of transaction charges levied on debit cards will encourage adoption of digital mode for payments.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) also welcomed the increase in transaction limit on e-wallets from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per month for individuals and merchants.
The measures will certainly push traders all over the country to adopt digital modes for making payments, it said.
However, CAIT has suggested that transaction cost on use of credit cards may be subsidised by the government since it will also enable more people to use digital mode.
The body hopes that business activities across the country will be revived to a certain extent and aid the process of scaling up digital transactions in the country.

In a joint statement, CAIT National President B C Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said: "Although wallets appear to be providing immediate relief, lack of interoperability between wallets restrict usage both for merchants and consumer in near future."

They further said: "While banks have chosen to deploy POS terminals re-actively, it is about time that they are now mandated to deploy these terminals aggressively".
The cost of deployment remains a huge concern for small businesses, suggesting that financial institutions should eye long term gains by offering subsidised terminals to boost digitisation, they added.
To encourage widespread usage of digital payments post demonetisation, the government today said no transaction charges will be levied on debit cards till December 31.

All public sector banks and some private sector ones have agreed to waive the transaction cost for all payments made through debit cards, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters here.
The move comes after the government reviewed the situation post demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes and decided to encourage digital payments.