The Modi government's quest towards less use of cash in transactions post-demonetisation has got the Niti Aayog’s push, which is providing financial support to incentivise the district administration to reach out to the general public and small traders in villages and talukas, and encourage them to shift to cashless payments.
As per the government think tank’s plan, an incentive of Rs 10 will be given to the district administration for every individual who has shifted to digital payment mode and has made at least two digital transactions for day-to-day activities, like selling and buying goods or services through any of the five methods, unified payment interface (UPI), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Aadhaar Enabled Payments, e-wallets and Rupay debit/credit/prepaid cards.
It has also asked district magistrates to ensure that financial transactions in the district and subordinate organisations are cashless and on e-platforms. The Aayog has already given up to Rs 5 lakh to every district to kick-start the process, right from the panchayat level. An incentive of Rs 100 will be provided to common services centre operators for every merchant transacting digitally and Rs 5 for every citizen shifting to digital payments.
The first 50 panchayats to go cashless will be given the 'digital payment award of honour' by Niti Aayog. Also, the top 10 best performing districts will be given the 'digital payment champions award' by the Niti Aayog.