15/12/2016
. ADVANTAGES OF GOING
CASHLESS
Convenience
The ease of conducting financial
transactions is probably the
biggest motivator to go digital.
You will no longer need to carry
wads of cash, plastic cards, or
even queue up for ATM
withdrawals. It’s also a safer and
easier spending option when you
are travelling. “The benefits are
enormous if you leave out the
low-income group, which will face
a huge challenge,” says Kartik
Jhaveri, Director,Transcend
Consulting. “For the rest of the
country, it is constructive and
simple .
It will be especially useful in case
of emergencies, say, in hospitals,”
he says. Adds Jayant Pai, Head,
Marketing, PPFAS Mutual Fund:
“You have the freedom to
transact whenever and wherever
you want. You don’t have to be
physically present to conduct a
transaction or be forced to do so
only during office hours.”
Discounts
The recent waiver of service tax
on card transactions up to Rs
2,000 is one of the incentives
provided by the government to
promote digital transactions. This
has been followed by a series of
cuts and freebies. It’s a good time
to increase your savings if you
take advantage of these. For
instance, 0.75% discount on
digital purchase of fuel means
that the petrol price in Delhi at
Rs 63.47 per litre can be brought
down to Rs 62.99/l with digital
payment.
Similarly, saving on rail tickets,
highway toll, or purchase of
insurance can help cut your costs.
Add to these the cashback offers
and discounts offered by mobile
wallets like Paytm, as well as the
reward points and loyalty benefits
on existing credit and store cards,
and it could help improve your
cash flow marginally.
Tracking spends
“If all transactions are on record,
it will be very easy for people to
keep track of their spending. It
will also help while filing income
tax returns and, in case of a
scrutiny, people will find it easy to
explain their spends,” says Manoj
Nagpal, CEO, Outlook Asia
Capital. “Besides the tax, it will
have a good impact on
budgeting,” says Pai.
Lower risk
If stolen, it is easy to block a
credit card or mobile wallet
remotely, but it’s impossible to
get your cash back. “In that sense,
the digital option offers limited
security,” says Pai. This is
especially true while travelling,
especially abroad, where loss of
cash can cause great
inconvenience. Besides, if the
futuristic cards evolve to use
biometric ID (finger prints, eye
scan, etc), it can be extremely
difficult to copy, making it a very
safe option
GO DIGITAL, GET
DISCOUNTS
Service tax : Waiver of service tax
of 15% on digital transactions up
to `2,000.
Fuel : 0.75% discount on digital
purchase of fuel through
credit/debit cards, e-wallets or
mobile wallets.
Rail tickets : 0.5% discount on
monthly and seasonal suburban
railway tickets from 1 January
2017. Online rail ticket buyers get
up to `10 lakh free accident
insurance too ..
Rail catering : 5% discount on
digital payments for railway
catering, accommodation, retiring
rooms, etc.
Highway toll : 10% discount on
NH toll payment via RFID or
fast-tags in 2016-17.
Insurance : 10% discount by
government general insurers on
premium paid online via their
portals. 8% discount on new LIC
policies bought online via its site.
POS: Rs 100 a month is the
maximum rent that PSU banks
can charge for PoS terminals..
Rupay : Kisan credit card holders
to get RuPay Kisan cards.