Post demonetisation, the government has been pushing digital transaction with an aim to move towards less cash society.
The Finance Ministry on Thursday denied any proposal of banning chequebooks stating that how they are a relevant composition of payments landscape.
The official statement came as a major sigh of relief for millions of citizens who were paranoid after there were news doing rounds that the Narendra Modi led government might consider to put a ban on chequebooks in a bid to push digital economy.
"The Government of India has reaffirmed that there is NO proposal under consideration to withdraw the bank Cheque Book facility," the finance ministry said in a tweet.
Post demonetisation, the government has been pushing digital transaction with an aim to move towards less cash society.
Earlier, there was a buzz that the government might be working on another radical reform to push digital transactions. According to experts, 95 per cent transactions currently take place via cash or cheques.
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.
In all probability, the Centre may withdraw the cheque book facility in the near future to encourage digital transactions," said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).
However, the Finance ministry had put a stop to these rumours and stated that cheques are the backbone of trade and commerce, by being negotiable instruments, which often serve as the security for underlying trade transactions
Meanwhile, the number of transactions through debit cards and credit cards at point-of-sale (PoS) devices jumped 17.07% to 24 crore in September this year from 20.5 crore in November 2016, the data from Reserve Bank of India shows. For the same period, the data in terms of value increased by 35.69% to Rs 47,820 crore in September, 2017 from Rs 35,240 crore in November last year.
According to officials from the ministry of electronics and IT, the ministry is taking proactive measures to promote the growth of digital transactions. "Mobile handset firms have been asked to pre-install BHIM apps in the mobile phones," a senior official from the ministry told DNA Money.
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