Published Date: 02 Mar 17
November 08, 2016 marked a big day for India when late in the evening all news channels and social media sites were flooded with Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s decision to ban the big currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 and introducing a higher denomination currency note of Rs. 2000.
The decision came out as a big surprise for everyone. For some it was nothing less than a shock, specially the people who had enormous accumulated stock of unrecorded and unaccountable money. But for the general public, it was a sign of a new beginning which was welcomed with applauses. People stood in long queues outside the ATMs and banks to get their old notes deposited and exchanged, suffered a lot of inconvenience but were still excited with contented hearts. Bearing this temporary inconvenience made them feel as if they are contributing their part in the making of New India – trying to free itself from the shackles of corruption, income inequality, etc.
This is the ignition which will curb one of the biggest scourges of India - Black Money. Black Money, as goes its colloquial name is the enormous unbanked and off the records money piled up which stays away from the reach of tax authorities increasing corruption manifolds. This decision is not meant just to regulate the unaccountable money but it is also fresh start towards making India a part of the Cashless Revolution.
India is the second largest smartphone market after China, so we do have a good reason and resource to embrace the cashless structure. Personal Internet Banking has already become very popular in recent years with the option of electronic payments of electricity bills, credit card bills, movie tickets, taxi bills, etc. Although the use of Net banking, debit cards and credit cards have brought a lot of convenience to our lives, the move to this type of transactions is not an easy one, after all old habits die hard. There still exists a section of people who are sceptical of digital payments and prefer to use cash for all transactions, but it will fade away eventually just as people started using latest mobile phones discarding the age old fixed line telephones.
Needless to mention, it is not only the convenience people feel, which is encouraging the shift towards the electronic transactions, there are many other benefits to the consumers as well. When people are not carrying cash along with them, there is absolutely no risk of theft. Moreover, the electronic transactions are secured by an authentic secret code to be entered by the user/ owner of the card. When the transactions are done electronically or through cards, there will be absolute transparency as everything will be on records. There would be no chance of black money accumulating or tax evasions. This way the deep rooted disease of income disparity will also be soon cured.
Its high time for India to move towards becoming a Transparent Cashless Society using the JAM Mechanism and Electronic Digital Payments giving a hard fatal blow to the illegal businesses and terrorism. Surely this new ray of hope will drive our country to a better and shining tomorrow.
Ms. Shweta Rikhi