Interview Discussion Initiative – Cashless Economy (March 15)



Today’s Topic for Discussion is:

Cashless Economy


Issues:


  • What are the benefits of cashless economy?
  • What are the challenges of cashless economy in India?
  • What should government do to encourage cashless economy in India?
  • What steps will you take to promote cashless economy in your district?
  • Digitization
  • Pros and Cons

Knowledge Base:



Aspirants can discuss in the comment section below!


About the Initiative: 


Important Issues and topics for UPSC Interview would be posted daily. We will try to cover all important areas for your Interview preparation. Aspirants can discuss in the comment section. 



Comments

7 responses to “Interview Discussion Initiative – Cashless Economy (March 15)”

  1. Sanjay Kanna Avatar
    Sanjay Kanna

    Cashless economy is a revolution from the fiat money to digital money generally adopted with the aim of increasing the transparency in the flow of cash.The benefits of a cashless economy to india includes:

    1) For govt : Economy will become formal and easy to track, hence increasing the possibility the widening the tax base by making evasion difficult.

    2) For Banks: Cost of printing new notes/replacement of soiled notes would reduce along with increasing in savings,thus making lending easier for people.

    3) For people: Convenient mode of payment, since it reduces the transaction costs of carrying and doing businesses in cash. Also, anti-social activities like drug trafficking etc., which are carried out mainly in cash can be reduced.

    Challenges:

    1) Only 27% of Indians use internet and they are predominantly of urban areas, thus leaving out many illiterate and relatively poor rural people.

    2) Mobile phone networks in remote areas is either few/ far between, which makes average page load time for mobile payments very slow, although smart phone usage gets increased.

    3) Presence of many informal sector jobs forces merchants to go for daily wages, thus making them difficult to adapt to cashless mode, though PoS machines are installed.

    Steps( Both govt and myself as a district collector will take):

    1) List of unbanked community in my district will be prepared and they will first be incentivised to have a Jan dhan account(mostly along with aadhar).

    2) Schemes like MGNREGA/ PDS / Ujjawala yojana would be identified and both wages and subsidies would be directly transferred into their bank accounts.

    3) Presence of Mobile towers and bank branches will be increased in remote areas in initial stages and presence of public wi-fi spots and mobile charging facilities will be increased in case of urban areas.

    Though achieving a 100% cashless society seems impossible, India can always start from a less cash society and then gradually moving on to become mostly cashless society.

  2. Cashless economy :
    A cashless economy is one in which all the transaction are done using cards or digital means therefore the circulation of physical currency is minimal
    Benefits :
    * Reduced instances of tax avoidance because it is financial institution based economy where transactions traits are left
    * It will curb generation of black money
    * 1 in 7 notes is supposed to be fake which has a huge negative impact on economy by going cashless that can be avoided
    *In a cashless economy there will be no problem of soiled notes on counterfeit currency
    Challenges :
    1. Availability of Internet connection and financial literacy
    2. Though bank account have been opened through Jan dhan yojana most of them are lying an operational unless people start operating bank account cashless economy is not possible
    3. A most card and card users fear that they will be changed more if they use cards. Further non users of credit cards are not aware of the benefits of credit cards

    What steps will you take to encourage cashless in your districts ?

    1. Making electronic payment infrastructure completely safe and secure so that incidents of cyber crimes could be minimised and people develop faith in electronic payment system
    2. Create a culture of saving and faith in financial system among the rural poor
    Digitalization:
    Means the use of Digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value producing opportunities it is the process of moving to a digital business
    Pros:
    Creation of Digital infrastructure and electronic manufacturing in India
    Delivery of all government services electronically through e governance
    Cons :
    No disadvantage could be noticed as it is a initiative. However an initiative also lacks many crucial components include law of legal framework, absence of privacy, data protection laws

    What should government do to encourage cashless economy :
    Government has taken many ways to encourage cashless economy
    1. Opening bank account for the un banked under PMJDY
    2. Adoption of DBT
    3. Major social media efforts to promote cashless transaction which include e banking, debit and credit cards, card swipe ,POS machine and digital wallet

  3. Cashless economy :
    A cashless economy is one in which all the transaction are done using cards or digital means. The circulation of physical currency is minimal
    Benefits :
    Reduced instances of tax avoidance because it is financial institution based economy where transactions traits are left
    It will curb generation of black money
    1 in 7 notes is supposed to be fake which has a huge negative impact on economy by going cashless that can be avoided
    In a cashless economy there will be no problem of soiled notes on counterfeit currency
    Challenges :
    1. Availability of Internet connection and financial literacy
    2. Though bank account have been opened through Jan dhan yojana most of them are lying an operational unless people start operating bank account cashless economy is not possible
    3. A most card and card users fear that they will be changed more if they use cards. Further non users of credit cards are not aware of the benefits of credit cards
    What you will take steps to encourage:
    1. Making electronic payment infrastructure completely safe and secure so that incidents of cyber crimes could be minimised and people develop faith in electronic payment system
    2. Create a culture of saving and faith in financial system among the rural poor
    Digitalization:
    Means the use of Digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value producing opportunities it is the process of moving to a digital business
    Pros:
    Creation of Digital infrastructure and electronic manufacturing in India
    Delivery of all government services electronically through e governance
    Cons :
    No disadvantage could be noticed as it is a initiative. However an initiative also lacks many crucial components include law of legal framework, absence of privacy, data protection laws
    What should government do to encourage cashless economy :
    Government has taken many ways to encourage cashless economy
    1. Opening bank account for the un banked under PMJDY
    2. Adoption of DBT
    3. Major social media efforts to promote cashless transaction which include e banking, debit and credit cards, card swipe ,POS machine and digital wallet

  4. Cashless economy is very economic for government, no need to print physical currency. Transactions are really fast irrespective of distance. to become totally cashless country India needs to upgrade its system and provide basic facilities to avail cashless benefits to all. still many people in India are linked to Bank. so they are not in main stream of flow. First of govt. needs to upgrade infrastructure to supports such a huge population and make sure everyone in India gets benefit and connected to bank. Govt should provide some benefits to promote cashless transactions for example – when we pay at petrol with our paytm wallet we get .7% cashback. etc.
    But main focus area should be inclusive growth with all connected to financial system.

  5. Ashwini Sharma Avatar
    Ashwini Sharma

    Benefits
    ——–
    – Tax buoyancy, as cashless economy leaves a paper trail.
    – Will keep inflation in check as circular trading by wholesale traders for hoarding will be easily detected.
    – will encourage saving behaviour as cash will require to be stored in banks/wallets as evident from m-cash users in African countries of Nigeria.
    – Losses due to counterfeit currency can be eliminated.
    – Cross-border terrorism, social unrest, naxalite unrest, child and women trafficking will be greatly reduced as they rely on hard cash.
    – People will be pushed towards the banking networks. This will promote the cause of financial inclusion.
    – Direct Benefits Transfer will help in rationalization of subsidies and prevent leakages, diversions, and losses.
    – social security nets will become more strengthened.

    Challenges
    ———-
    – Financial inclusion has a long way to go as banks suffer from last mile problem. BC model is yet to prove to be a viable model. Payment banks need to evolve a viable profitable model.
    – Low literacy and consequently, low digital literacy.
    – No tools for people to defend digital privacy.
    – No viable cybersecurity architecture.
    – General levels of cyber-training and skills in police personnel across the country is low.
    – Internet penetration and electricity availability is not adequately available throughout.

    Steps to encourage cashless economy in India
    ———————————————
    – Continued thrust on schemes such as Digi Dhan Yojana and other cashless transactions promotions incentive schemes.
    – NPCL should be roped in to promote digital literacy and awareness among the masses through innovative mass media.
    – Banks must be encouraged to incentivize customers towards cashless transactions. Alternative cash based transactions can be made costlier.
    – Roll out cheap open source management information systems for MSMEs so that only digitally signed invoices are generated and paid for digitally.

    Steps to promote cashless economy in my district
    ———————————————–
    – Create a team of young individuals well versed in digital transactions and encourage them to educate their family members and neighbours to switch to cashless modes.
    – Organize one man stalls at prominent public places such as wholesale mandis, primary health centres etc., for creating awareness.
    – Give favourable terms to hawkers/vendors who utilize municipal grounds for selling their wares, on the condition that they have digital modes activated.
    – Promote and implement Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojana and Lucky Grahak Yojana

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