Industrialists in Goa have welcomed the state government's move to build a cashless society, but said the transition will come with its own set of problems in the initial phases.
"There will be initial impact of going cashless. But I feel this is the right time because we are already facing shortage of currency notes. We will have to make a habit of cashless dealings," Narayan Bandekar, President, Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), told PTI today.
As far as the industry is concerned it is a good move because all dealings would be accounted for.
Bandeka said GCCI will call for a meeting of its members next week to discuss the cashless society concept and its impact on the industry.
The Goa government has announced the state would be a model cashless society by December 30, building up on the Centre's November 8 demonetisation drive and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push for electronic transactions.
The government has already started educating people about the concept.
"In the short term, small industries will face problems. Their customers will pay in cash. But in the long term it is good, it is good for us," Sudin Naik, President of Goa Small Industries Association, said.
"We always do selling through invoice and make transactions through banks. But in the B2C (business to consumer) segment, they are still dealing in cash, for them it (transition) will be difficult. In the first two weeks (after note ban), there was less cash flow, but situation is improving. By December, things will be fine," he added.
Former GCCI President Nitin Kuncolienkar said there will be impact on demand for the next two-three months.
"Certainly for the next two to three months there will be impact on demand. Though on B2B (business t business) basis we can talk of being cashless, when it comes to B2C, 60-70 per cent of the transactions is in cash for most of the industries," he said.
"This is where we need to work. Demand has gone down (in various sectors of economy). Now GST will be coming up. When you go from origin-based taxation to destination-based taxation, the transitional period is very critical.
People would stop buying. We, as industry, need to understand what are the challenges. Except pharma, demand in most of the other industries has gone down, we can feel the pinch," Kuncolienkar added.
"Industry will certainly support the demonetisation move. We feel this is an opportunity to build up digital society and take things forward," he added.
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