Govt announces two schemes to reward cashless payment adopters

The government has launched two schemes, one each for customers and merchants, to incentivise digital payments in the country. 

NITI Aayog Chairman Amitabh Kant, while making the announcement, said, "The government has initiated numerous steps to combat the scourge of corruption and black money in the last two and a half years. There has been a significant spurt in digital payments post demonetization."

He added that Point of Sale (PoS) transactions have jumped 95% after demonetization. 

The government's move to decommission Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, was touted as a masterstroke to weed out black money from the system and later, as a move to shift to a cashless economy. 

Kant, while announcing the schemes, said, "We cannot afford a parallel economy."

The two schemes -- Lucky Grahak Yojna and Digi Dhan Vyapari Yojna -- will go live from December 25 till April 14. 

Kant said, "We're launching Lucky Grahak Yojna for consumers and Digi Dhan Vyapari Yojna to encourage merchants to transition to digital payments," according to ANI.

He said that the National Payments Corporation of India will announce 15,000 winners of Rs 1,000 each for the next 100 days, and 7,000 weekly awards (Rs 50,000 maximum) for the merchants.