Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das today said that for benefit of farmers National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has sanctioned Rs 21,000 crores to rural areas to enable district cooperative banks to pass the money to primary agri-societies.
Speaking to media in New Delhi today, Mr. Das said, it will help farmers for the present Rabi season. He said, no service charge will be levied on digital financial transactions using feature phones (which are not smartphones) till 31st December.
He said, all switching charges and other charges have been waived till December 31 in RUPAY cards and service providers have also agreed to waive all switching charges on all debit cards till the same period.
Mr Das said, the intention behind the gesture is to ensure that more and more people move towards digital transactions
He also informed that Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has decreased USSD charges from 1 rupee 50 paise to 50 paise for feature phones. He said, the government will also promote digital transactions at toll plazas and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has told manufacturers to include Electronic Toll Collection complaint RFID facility in all new cars.
Mr Das said, all government organisations and public sector undertakings have been asked to use only e-payments via. card, digital platforms and AADHAAR enabled payments.
The Economic Affairs Secretary said, more than 80 thousand ATMs out of two lakh ATMs in the country have been recalibrated. He also said that new 500 and 2000 rupee notes have been made available in more than 1.5 lakh post offices.