Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: No surcharge, service charge and convenience fee will be levied on card and digital payment.

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday gave its approval for introduction of steps for promotion of payments through cards and digital means.

The move aims at reducing cash transactions. Several short term (to be implemented within one year) and medium term measures (to be implemented within two years) have been approved for implementation by the government ministries/ departments/ organisations.

Promotion of payments through cards and digital means will be instrumental in reducing tax avoidance, migration of government payments and collections to cashless mode, discourage transactions in cash by providing access to financial payment services to the citizens to conduct transactions through card/ digital means and shifting payment ecosystem from cash dominated to non-cash/less cash payments.

The essential features of the proposals for promotion of payments through cards and digital means include steps for withdrawal of surcharge/service charge/ convenience fee on card/ digital payments currently imposed by various government departments/organisations.

Some other features of the proposals:

-Introduction of appropriate acceptance infrastructure in government departments/ organisations

-Rationalization of Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on card transactions and a differentiated MDR framework for some key transaction segments

-Mandating payments beyond a prescribed threshold only in card/ digital mode

-Introduction of formulae linked acceptance infrastructure by the stakeholders of certain card products

-Rationalisation of telecom service charges for digital financial transactions; promotion of mobile banking

-Creation of necessary assurance mechanisms for quick resolution of fraudulent transactions and review the payments ecosystem in the country.