After note ban, will Modi govt now ban cheque books for its digital push?

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said the government needs to encourage the use of debit and credit cards

After deciding to revoke the legal tender of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in November last year, the Narendra Modi -led central government might now be working on another disruptive step to boost digital transactions — banning the cheque book. A senior functionary of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on November 16 said the Centre might withdraw the bank cheque book facility in the "near future" to encourage digital transactions.

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said the government needed to encourage the use of debit and credit cards. "In all probability, the Centre may withdraw the cheque book facility in the near future to encourage digital transactions," he said.

Impact of cheque book facility withdrawal

Demonetisation was a big disruption for most Indians, right from poor labourers to big industrialists. Now, the withdrawal of the cheque book facility could have a massive impact as well. Most business transactions are conducted through cheques. According to experts, 95 per cent transactions currently take place via cash or cheques.

Since cash transactions have declined, transaction by cheque might have increased after demonetisation.

Use of cheque in India

Cheques are fairly popular in SME payments. By taking a PDC (post-dated cheque) against the delivery of goods, a supplier secures payments due in future from its customer. People pay by cheques while buying land and house, too.

Many landlords now take rent from tenants via cheque. Since November 8, 2016, digital payments like BHIM have grown. However, their sweet spot has been small-value payments (two to three figures). The retail and commercial payment usage strongly suggests that cheque is a very compelling method of payment for large-value payments (four figures and above).

Growth of digital transactions

The Narendra Modi-led BJP government has been pushing for a less-cash society. While digital transactions have shown mixed trends since demonetisation, overall cashless payments are much higher than in the pre-demonetisation months. (more)

Congress questions the 'achievements' of two years of Modi govt

Congress questions the 'achievements' of two years of Modi govt

On a day when the Bharatiya Janata party-led government completed two years in office, the Congress party questioned the various celebrations, alleging the record was only of “empty talk and hollow promises”.

Dubbing the Narendra Modi government “fraudulently dynamic and dynamically fraudulent”, it fielded senior spokesperson in both Delhi and across state capitals to counter the “government propaganda”.

Unveiling its 'Do saal desh ka bura haal' (two years of dire national straits) campaign, party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “The government is surviving because of newspapers and television channels and its media publicity. It has nothing to show by way of work except bombast.”

Former Union minister and party spokesperson Kapil Sibal challenged the PM or anyone in the government to a Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal and Randeep Surjewala during a press conference on completion of two years by Modi government, at party headquarters in New Delhi

public debate on what it had achieved. Contrasting the predecessor government, led by its Manmohan Singh, he said: “Dr Singh did not speak; his work spoke. This prime minister does nothing but speak. He has nothing to show in terms of work.”Read more.

CEO Poll: Modi govt meets expectations of India Inc on reforms

CEO Poll: Modi govt meets expectations of India Inc on reforms

With the Narendra Modi government completing two years in office, an overwhelming majority of the 50 chief executive officers (CEOs) surveyed by this newspaper said the government has met their expectations on economic reforms. The average rating was seven out of 10.

In a nationwide survey conducted by this newspaper over the past three weeks, CEOs said a number of steps taken by the government - bringing down the corporate tax rate, clearing the retrospective tax mess and a new bankruptcy law - have made it easier to do business in India. They also appreciated initiatives like Digital India and the Swachh Bharat campaign. When asked about the positives of the government, CEOs cited better foreign relations, taming inflation and bringing down corruption in governance as top achievements.

ALSO READ: Narendra Modi: Governance and that Hindutva image

"I think there are perceptible signs of improvement in the ease of doing business. We have also seen some important policy changes, like the Bankruptcy Code Bill, the National Intellectual Property Rights Policy and the Startup India policy, which are reflective of this government's intent to enable economic growth. What we need now is a bigger push in the investment policy in manufacturing to make it viable for Make in India to succeed," said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director of Biocon.

ALSO READ: Report Card: Two years of Modi Government

Sajjan Jindal, chairman of JSW Steel, said, "During my travels abroad, I clearly see that government's diplomacy has led to a rise in India's stature at the global stage."

Among the negatives, CEOs cited the inability to build consensus on the goods and services tax, inability to tackle the black money issue, and inability to handle the Opposition. Chairman of Videocon Industries, Venugopal Dhoot said the stability of the rupee and increased spending in infrastructure are indicators of good governance. "India is the only country in the world growing at 7.5 per cent according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This shows our economy is on the right track," said Dhoot. Read more.