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.

Aadhaar cleared through Money Bill route: Why Modi cannot use this option every time

Will the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government now use the Money Bills route to get Parliament — more to the point the Rajya Sabha where it does not have a majority — to clear legislation?
The fact is, getting all Bills to be classified as Money Bills to circumvent the Rajya Sabha could be a stretch.
The law on this is crystal clear.
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• Government subsidies should reach the right hands: Jaitley
• Opposition prepares to recommend amendments to Aadhaar Bill
• Aadhaar Bill passage a landmark development: Panagariya
• Lok Sabha passes Aadhaar Bill to empower citizens

Under Article 110(1) of the Constitution, a Bill is deemed to be a Money Bill if it contains only provisions dealing with all or any of the following matters, namely:
(a) the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax;
(b) the regulation of the borrowing of money or the giving of any guarantee by the Government of India, or the amendment of the law with respect to any financial obligations undertaken or to be undertaken by the Government of India;
(c) the custody of the Consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund of India, the payment of moneys into or the withdrawal of moneys from any such fund;
(d) the appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of India;
(e) the declaring of any expenditure to be expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India or the increasing of the amount of any such expenditure;
(f) the receipt of money on account of the Consolidated Fund of India or the public account of India or the custody or issue of such money or the audit of the accounts of the Union or of a State; or
(g) any matter incidental to any of the matters specified in sub-clauses (a) to (f).
A Bill is not deemed to be Money Bill by reason only that it provides for the imposition of fines or other pecuniary penalties, or for the demand or payment of fees for licences or fees for services rendered, or by reason that it provides for the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax by any local authority or body for local purposes.