 "Jaitley")
The measures announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to encourage online transactions, including discounts on petrol and diesel purchase, have reinforced the optimism at digital cash companies.
While they all expect more clarity on the announcements made in the days to come, they say the recent measures, if bundled well into digital transactions, would help massively in promoting digital money in both urban and rural areas.
According to senior officials at the NITI Aayog, they are constantly in touch with all private stakeholders in this regard, trying to come up with new solutions to promote digital cash. "We have had discussions with everyone in the digital transaction system. These talks would continue," said Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant.
"The finance minister's move to incentivise digital payments will offer a strong support to our ongoing effort in helping the country leapfrog cash generation to digital payment solutions. This will help millions of Indians overcome the hassles of dealing in cash," said Deepak Abbot, senior vice-president at Paytm.
Stakeholders also say they hope the initiatives announced would be same for all modes of digital payment. "While there has been waiver of service tax on card payments, it would hopefully be applicable for all digital payments, including wallets and Aadhaar- enabled payment," said Pramod Saxena, chairman, Oxigen Services India.
Others want an expansion in the ambit of the initiatives in different services. "More such incentive announcements should be implemented in other payments such as electricity or mobile bills and long-distance railway tickets, among other things," said Naveen Surya, chairman, Payments Council of India and managing director, ItzCash.
In the month since demonetisation, all types of digital payment companies -- mobile wallets, debit and credit cards, payment gateways, enablers -- have seen a significant jump in adoption. "Businesses have realised the convenience and benefits of a cashless economy and adapted to the change. All their hesitations for card/wallet payments have disappeared. E-commerce companies, too, have moved to digital payments," said Bipin Preet Singh, chief executive, MobiKwik.
