CAIT CALLS FOR LESS CASH ECONOMY INSTEAD OF CASH LESS

17th July, 2016

CAIT CALLS FOR LESS CASH ECONOMY INSTEAD OF CASH LESS 

RECOMMENDATIONS OF JUSTICE SHAH PANEL PREMATURE

In the wake of recommendations of SIT on black money seeking a total ban on cash transaction of above Rs. 3 lakh and further recommending an upper limit of Rs.15 lakh for cash holding, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT)  has urged Union Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley to undertake approach of "less cash economy" and not a "cash less economy" since much has to be done on the ground to go for cashless society. " Curbing black money is certainly an important issue and we support all move and action of the Government in this regard but beginning the move, the policies should be framed to have a less cash society first and later on the same can be moved to cashless society"-said the CAIT. It is noteworthy to mention that the CAIT is already working on this agenda and is presently conducting a 40 days "less cash awareness campaign" across the Country and as a first step, Mr. Jaitley released a less cash roadmap document of CAIT on 6th July,2016 at New Delhi. The CAIT has also asked all its constituents across the Country to observe forthcoming 15th August as a less cash day.

CAIT National President Mr. B.C.Bhartia & Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal also sought support of the Government for declaring 15th August as less cash day in the Country which will certainly percolate the message down the line not only among the trade & commerce but even to consumers as well. Very shortly, the CAIT will also be launching its separate website on its less cash campaign-said both leaders.

Commenting upon recommendations of SIT panel, both Mr. Bhartia & Mr. Khandelwal said that generation of black money should be plugged in the first instance and therefore there is a need to identify the sources of black money generation. Any ban on cash consumption without restricting its sources of generation will prove to be much counter productive. Further, the existing provisions of Income Tax & other Acts bestow sufficient powers on the administrative officials to check black money consumption. It is an admitted fact that still a large population in the Country still devoid of banking services and lack of bank access. Further, a large chunk of the population is still uneducated and needs to be imparted proper education about electronic payments .Imposing blanket ban on cash transactions at the primary stage will be a regressive move. Both leaders advocated the need of a moral campaign among the people.

They further said that the Government in association with stakeholders & consumers should launch a national awareness campaign about the need and importance of electronic payments and less cash society and to encourage them to adopt digital payments voluntarily rather under the arm of any law.

The CAIT said that benefits of a less cash society are well known in the form of its positive effects on economic growth as a result of increased trade and the opportunities to promote financial inclusion. However, despite these known advantages, cash still dominates in India. Continued high cash usage has its ill effects in the form of shadow economy which hurts the ability of governments to efficiently collect tax revenues. Additionally, the rise of cyber-crime and growing concerns about the ability of governments to look through digital records adds to the unwillingness of many with criminal intent to let go of cash. While benefits of digital payments are widely understood, the growth in acceptance infrastructure has not kept pace with the growth in cards and as such the Government should also concentrate its focus on acceptance infrastructure as well.

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For more details, please contact CAIT Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal at +91-9891015165-9310199771

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