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)

RBI raises ATM withdrawal limit to Rs 10,000 a day

Up to Rs 1 lakh can be withdrawn per week from current accounts

Further relaxing the rules for cash withdrawal from automated teller machines (ATMs), the Reserve Bank on Monday raised the cap from Rs 4,500 a day to Rs 10,000 for each card, but within the existing weekly limit of Rs 24,000 per week, with immediate effect.

Besides, current account holders can now withdraw up to Rs 1 lakh per week. Earlier, they were allowed to withdraw only up to Rs 50,000 in cash in a week. This facility has been extended to overdraft and cash credit accounts as well.

Already the cash availability has improved vastly in cash vending machines as more new notes are getting released in the system, but the weekly limit persists. The enhanced withdrawal limit, will help banks to bring down the transaction cost, which has now been waived off by the central bank till March.

The RBI had imposed these limits in November after the government announced a ban on all high-value currency notes, and said it would replace them with new notes.

The withdrawal limits are unlikely to be removed completely until the RBI has supplied the economy with sufficient amount of new notes, analysts said.

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PAC may summon PM Modi over cash ban issue if RBI's reply not satisfactory

PAC meeting to discuss issue of demonetisation has been called on January 20

Breaking News : The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament can call Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of demonetisation if it is not satisfied with the answers given by top finance ministry officials and the RBI Governor Urjit Patel, to whom a detailed questionnaire has been sent.

A PAC meeting on this issue has been called on January 20th, in which the RBI Governor Urjit Patel, Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa and Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das will be present.

"We have not yet received answers to the questions we have sent to them. They will reply few days before the January 20th meeting. Their replies will be discussed in detail," PAC Chairman and senior Congress leader K V Thomas told PTI.

Asked if the PAC would call the Prime Minister if replies were not satisfactory, he said: "The committee has all right to call anybody involved in the matter. But that will depend on the outcome of the January 20th meeting. We can call PM on demonetisation issue if members unanimously decide."

In a meeting with the PM after demonetisation announcement made on November 8, Thomas said, "I had met him and he said that the situation will be normal after 50 days by December-end. But it does not looks like."(more)

Lining up at the ATM? Here's how your cash actually gets there

From the printing press to the ATM, its a journey that starts with calculations at the Reserve Bank of India

Everyone likes money, especially with the Modi government's Demonetisation policy in full swing. But how does the Rs 100 note, which has reasserted its real value, and the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes reach your nearest automated teller machine (ATM)?

From the printing press to the ATM, its a journey that starts with calculations at the Reserve Bank of India and culminates in the execution of a very complicated logistics plan.

From the printing press to the ATM:

1) Finding our the country's cash needs: The RBI first calculates India's annual cash requirement. According to an Indian Express report, the calculation takes into account the quantity of notes in circulation, those which might have been destroyed, and how many would be needed for replacement. Other factors, the report added, such as projected GDP growth and inflation are also accounted for. The process starts early in the calendar year, before the new fiscal year begins, and RBIinforms the Ministry of Finance about the amount of currency that needs to be printed.

2) Telling the printing presses: India has four printing presses: One in Nashik (Maharashtra), one in Dewas (Madhya Pradesh), another in Mysuru (Karnataka( and the last in Salboni (West Bengal). These presses print out the notes after an order is placed with them and instructions are received regarding denominations and quantity of notes to be printed. The high-security paper used to print the notes comes from the currency paper mills in Mysuru and Hoshangabad.

3) Distributing the notes across the country: Once the notes have been printed, they need to be distributed across 19 regional centres of the RBI. Along with these centres, there are 4,000currency chests which serve areas not covered under these centres and they too need to receive the freshly printed notes. However, as explained by the IE report, even after these notes have reached their destinations, they do not hold any value till they are backed by cash or securities of equal value.Read more