RBI pitches for cash-less carry

July 9, 2012
RBI_ATM

New Delhi, July 9: The day is not far when you pay your vegetable vendor, hair dresser and neighbourhood grocer with your credit card.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has prepared a road map to provide card swipe machines to more than one crore retail businesses in the next three years to promote electronic transactions for ushering in a less-cash society in the country.

The central bank has come out with a vision document which envisages ways and means of ensuring that payment system in the country is safe, efficient, accessible, inclusive and also compliant with international standards.

The apex bank has sought public comments on the Payments System Vision Document 2012-15, released a fortnight ago. Pitching to move towards less-cash economy, RBI Governor D Subbarao had recently proposed that non-cash payments should be easy to use, readily available and accepted, should not impose any undue financial burden on the merchant and user, and should offer an appropriate level of security.

According to the road map prepared by the central bank for cash-less transactions, all schools and colleges in the country will also be equipped to handle plastic transactions. At present, very few educational institutions have the facility to accept fees and other dues through credit or debit card.

According to an RBI estimate, only six lakh retail traders accept credit card in the country. Steps are being taken to make the facility available to at least one crore retailers by 2015. The government and its financial institutions will initially bear the cost of each card swap machine made available to retailers.

The proposal, once implemented, will save the common man from the hassles of keeping cash in the pocket for day-to-day transactions and will also help generate revenues for banks.

Paper-less transactions are also expected to make house-hold payments, including electricity, telephone, house tax and insurance bills, easy. On an average, each household pays over 50 types of bills per year in India, involving crores of rupees in cash payments.

According to experts, the proposed structured modern payment and settlement system will prove to be more secure and affordable. It will also reduce the expenditure incurred on printing currency notes. Besides, the paper-less transactions will promote green initiative.

For the government, it will be easier to monitor the revenues earnings of retailers and their tax payments. Currently, lakhs of mom and pop store owners and other unorganised businesses do not pay income tax.

Recently, the government mandated that all payments by the government departments above Rs 25,000 should to be made electronically, it said.

Through these moves, increased emphasis is being laid on the use of electronic payment products and services that can be accessed anywhere and anytime by all at affordable prices.

No fee

Earlier this month, the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had asked the RBI to work out a mechanism to ensure that banks charge no fee from customers for electronic transfer of funds.

The finance ministry has also asked public sector banks and regional rural banks to bring down cheque-based transactions by popularising electronic payments.


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News Network
May 7,2020

May 7: Accusing the BJP government in Karnataka of "medieval barbarism" and treating migrants as worse than "bonded labourers", CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday hit out at the state's decision to stop workers from returning to their homes in different parts of the country citing requirements of the construction sector.

The Karnataka government has withdrawn its request to the railways to run special trains to ferry migrant labourers to their home states, hours after builders met Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to apprise him of the problems the construction sector will face in case they left.

"This is worse than treating them as bonded labour. Does the Indian constitution exist? Are there any laws in the country? This BJP state government is throwing us back to medieval barbarism. This will be stoutly resisted,” Yechury said in a tweet.

The railways is running Shramik Special trains to ferry to their home towns migrants who were stranded at their places of work during the lockdown.

So far, it has run more than 115 such trains.

The Principal Secretary in the Revenue Department N Manjunatha Prasad, who is the nodal officer for migrants, had requested the South Western Railways on Tuesday to run two train services a day for five days except Wednesday, while the state government wanted services thrice a day to Danapur in Bihar. However, later, Prasad wrote another letter within a few hours that the special trains were not required. Several migrants in the city were desperate to return home as they were out of jobs and money.

Yechury also lashed out at the central government over reports that it owed states and industry Rs 3 trillion and accused the centre of shifting the burden of fighting the pandemic to the state governments.

“While shifting the entire burden of fighting the pandemic on to the State governments, Modi government is not even paying their legitimate dues. After November 2019, Centre has not paid the GST compensation dues for the rest of the financial year, i.e., March 2020.

“Modi government has the right to loot while crores of people & States are left with nothing but the right to starve?,” he tweeted.

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News Network
May 18,2020

Muscat, May 18: An Air India special flight left for Hyderabad with a total of 182 stranded Indians from Oman on Monday.

"IX 818 departed for Hyderabad with total 182 passengers. We again express our gratitude to Omani & Indian authorities and wish all the passengers, safe journey home," Indian embassy in Oman said in a tweet.

Under the Vande Bharat Mission, Air India operated repatriation flight from Oman on Sunday to Kerala. It had brought back 183 Indians.

The phased evacuation is being done under the Centre's 'Vande Bharat' mission whose second phase started from May 16.

In order to facilitate the return of stranded Indian nationals in Oman, the Indian government has decided to operate more special flights to Bangalore, Calicut, Delhi, Kannur, Kochi, and Gaya on May 20, 21, 22 and 23.

Under the second phase, a total of 149 flights, including feeder flights, are expected to be operated to bring back stranded Indians from 40 countries.

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News Network
June 6,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 6: The Sabarimala Temple in Kerala is set to reopen from June 14 for devotees for monthly pooja and festival.

The temple will be open for the five-day monthly rituals in the Malayalam month of Midhunom that begins on June 15. From June 19-28 is the Sabarimala festival

A virtual queue system has been put in place in which 200 people will be allowed to register within an hour, Devasom Minister Kadakampally Surendran said.

To avoid crowding, only 50 devotees will be allowed to be present in front of the temple.

Before entering the premises, people will be scanned in Pampa and Sannidhanam. As a precautionary measure, people have been asked to wear mask and sanitation would be carried out at regular intervals.

Notably, no accommodation will be provided to the devotees in Sabarimala.

According to the Devasom Minister the administration has made two slots for the temple visit-- 4 am to 1 pm and 4 pm to 11 pm.

Also, the vehicles will only be allowed till Pampa. People coming from other states are required to register at government COVID Jagrata pass registration portal. Moreover, Appam and Arvana will be provided only through online booking.

Also, the devotees coming from other states will have to upload Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) labs certificate as a proof that they have not been infected with the lethal infection.

Also for the Guruvayoor Temple, the district collector, police and temple administration will hold a meeting to decide on the re-opening of the Temple. Here too devotees have to get themselves registered online.

In a single day, 600 people would be allowed to offer prayers at this shrine. Each hour, 150 people will be allowed to enter the premises.

Also, the time slot will be provided to people. In one batch 50 people will be allowed for 15 minutes inside the premises

Not only that, but marriages can also again be solemnised with divine blessings at the Guruvayoor temple. The administration will allow only 60 marriages in a day.

Weddings were stopped at the temple, due to the COVID-19 lockdown that was in place since March 24.

A marriage group should not have more than 10 people, including the bride and the groom and it is mandatory for the group to abide by the social distancing norm.

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