'No decision on report on digital payments'

 No final decision has been taken on recommendations of Committee of Chief ministers on Digital Payments, the finance ministry said on Tuesday, a day after media reports said the government may bring provisions in the Union Budget to tax cash transactions above Rs 50,000.

“The media has reported various aspects of the recommendations made by the committee, including the recommendation relating to levy of banking cash transaction tax on transactions of Rs 50,000 and above,” the ministry said in a statement.

“It is informed that the government has not yet taken any final view on the recommendations of the committee. The recommendations will be carefully examined and appropriate decisions will be taken in due course,” it added.

The committee of chief ministers headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had submitted its interim report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on digitisation.It had recommended a cap on cash in all big-ticket transactions and a tax on cash deals beyond Rs 50,000, to discourage the use of cash. It also sought to bring down the cost of digital transactions.

Besides, it had suggested a Rs 1,000 subsidy for purchase of smartphones by non-tax assessees and small merchants, and made a case of lower/zero merchant discount rate (MDR) for all digital payments to government entities.

The panel also suggested making Aadhaar as the primary identification avenue for KYC norms and making all payments banks and banking correspondents interoperable.

To widen the base of digital payments, the panel had suggested roping in rural and urban co-operative banks in digitisation.

To start with, it suggested that all government-owned or operated systems such as subsidy payments, insurance business, education fees and petrol pumps be digitised.