Waive charges on cashless transactions until cash crunch ends, demands online petition

Started a week ago, Vemulapati’s petition has garnered more than 13,000 signatures.
Waive charges on cashless transactions until cash crunch ends, demands online petition
Waive charges on cashless transactions until cash crunch ends, demands online petition
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Following the cash crunch brought on by the November 8 decision to demonetise old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, an online petition has called for doing away with all charges associated with non-cash transactions till the crisis is tided over. 

In a Change.org petition addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RBI Governor Urijit Patel, Hyderabad’s Kranthi Vemulapati calls for cashless transactions to be treated on par with cash transactions.

Following the government’s urging the public to use credit cards/ debit cards and other wireless methods instead of cash, the petition states, “In light of this, I request credit cards also be treated as currency as opposed to the standard practice wherein the RBI treats credit card transactions as loan transactions per various circulars.”

The petition adds, “Further there is a standard fee plus 2.5% (approx) Service Tax on NEFT transactions. In the current situation, an unprecedented number of exchanges will be made through these mediums as there is no other alternative left with the people. Therefore, all financial charges/interest rates/services taxes with regard to credit cards and other add on costs should ideally be waived until such time as hard cash is deemed to be in regular circulation again.”

After the demonetisation decision, the government advised banks and the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) to do away with charges on e-transactions till December 31.  

“As of now, some banks have waived cash deposit charges, ATM withdrawal fees and increased credit limits but there is no clarity as to which banks these are and therefore it ought to be, in my humble opinion, the initiative of the RBI to clarify the same and bring about some uniformity in application of the same,” the petition also states.

Started a week ago, Vemulapati’s petition has garnered more than 13,000 signatures.

With the cash crunch issue receiving widespread media coverage and becoming a point of attack for a united opposition, the inconvenience caused by the demonetization process is one of the foremost topics on most people’s minds. Even as the government continues ahead with the exercise, there have been numerous calls, like Vemulapati’s petition, for adequate compensatory mechanisms to make the process easier and pain-free for the common person.  

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