DIGITAL PAYMENT PLATFORMS

                                                                                 

Why are we hesitating to make a payment online?

Why aren’t we genuinely willing to carry out an online transaction?

Why we Indians aren’t able to trust this plethora of online platforms so easily?

v India is gradually moving ahead in the direction of the accomplishment of a US $5 Trillion Economy and our government departments are striving very hard in order to make this blueprint into a permanent structure for the World to look upon.

v Achieving this feat wouldn’t be easy at all, as it carries lot many aspects which we as the citizens need to follow and perform upon. One of the most basic, yet technical aspect which we term as ‘online transactions’ play a crucial role in the progress of any economy. So, the question is, why do we still think twice during the process of financial digitisation?

v As we know, nothing in this world is permanent nor perfect. Every technical system or structure contains some or the other loopholes, which sometimes creates a huge disaster for the systems to handle. Yet, before discussing about the drawbacks of Online Transactions, we must take a look upon its benefits.

Convenience: Very since the revolution of online transactions has boomed in our country, we have slowly and gradually adopted this feasible way of performing our activities online. The ease of conducting online transactions is probably the biggest motivation for you to go digital. You no longer need to carry excessive cash and hurt your pockets.

Time-saving: Gone are the days when we used to stand in the long and tiring queue for depositing money in the bank accounts, for booking the railway and bus tickets at respective stations. Performing such activities online has resulted in great time saving for sure.

Lower Risk: In case your mobile phone or your credit card is stolen, you can easily block your mobile number and card by just filing a FIR. Although, the chances of recovery of your cash stolen remains very low. This is eventually very true while travelling as loss of cash and cards can cause heavy amount of inconvenience. Besides, if the future-based technology invents cards with biometric requirements, that would become a very safe option as it would be hell difficult to copy your details.

User-Friendly: The most important characteristic of online payment platforms is its easy and simple to access user-interface experience. The features offered are ready to adopt even by the common man.

v Although with perks of using online platforms, comes its disadvantages which obviously go hand in hand. A few of the threats, to be very clear are as below:

Security and Trust Issues: We Hindustani’s generally have a habit of exploring all the possible loopholes and negative characteristics before trying new stuff. The same happens with digitisation. Since, we Indians are culturally not very adaptive to such systems, sometimes, even well-educated class of the society run the risk of being trapped in frauds.

The fear of anonymous receivers: This point contains all the information which we send online about the transactions, bank account details, documents etc. All this information is stored in the database of the payment system. Now this directly means, that the agency now has access to all your data and you are at the risk of your data being shared or sold to third parties [happens only when the agency is a fraudster].

Poor internet connection: The most common drawback concerned regarding online payment platforms in our country is unavailability of proper internet sometimes. Due to the poor network, we fail to complete the process of performing any online activity. Hence, many a times, this has been resulted in unnecessarily deduction of money from our bank accounts, failure regarding receiving payments from other parties etc…

v How can we improve and drive growth towards digitisation in India? For achieving a cashless economy, improved telecom and communication is must. The deep penetration of Internet has already been established but it needs much improvements. Faster internet speed not only results in smooth functioning of digital platforms but also boosts the economy. THE FUTURE IS DIGITAL, hence we must strive hard. Moreover, availability of skilled manpower and entrepreneurship services are the need of the hour. 

    Proper infrastructure and the capability of handling the technical aspects is must as it requires patience and adaptability. Skilled labour is needed the most as India is a country with varied literacy levels. Hence, the government should first focus on improving the skills and abilities of the unemployed people and then introduce new reforms. Utmost care must be taken by the project managers and service providers that they plan accordingly and do not create a digital division of people leaving behind masses.

THE UNION BUDGET 2019-2020

Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s First Full Time Finance Minister presented the first union budget of the second time elected PM Modi’s Government.     

                                                                             

As she commenced orating the details of the budget, this financial statistics and figures were not termed as a budget, but an accounting ledger to be very clear.

A few key points which would be really easy for a layman (common man) to understand are mentioned below:

·      A target of making India a $5Trillion Economy has been set by the PM and the Government.

·      According to the Finance Minister, India had become a $2.7 Trillion Economy by 2018 and it is expected to cross the $3 Trillion mark.

·      “India’s job creators are the wealth creators of our nation”, said Nirmala Sitharaman.

·      The UDAAN Scheme has been providing air services to the small cities and this has help become India, the third largest domestic aviation market in the world.

·      210 kilometres of metro lines have been operationalised during the year 2019.

·      Indian Railways is in need of an investment amounting to Rs, 50 Lakhs Crore. The Public Private Partnership have been commissioned for the timely completion of tracks and for the smooth delivery of passenger freight services. An estimated 31,000 kms of electrification has been completed.

·      India has emerged as a Major Space Power, hence, a new company named New Space India Limited has been formed for the research and development of various space products.

·      For the Rural and Graamin Bharat with the slogan of Gaav, Gareeb and Kisaan, the government has set a target that by the year 2020, every rural family except those who are unwilling to take connection of electricity and clean cooking facility, under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Yojna, it aims for housing for all. During the upcoming period of 2019-20 and 2020-21, 1.95 crore houses will be constructed with the amenities of LPG and toilets.

·      As for the 3crore small shopkeepers, they will be provided with pension through their bank accounts and AADHAR cards.

·       An extra sur-charge in the Income tax slab has been increased from 4% to 7% for those with an income ranging between Rs, 2 crore to Rs, 5 crore.

·      Under the Pradhan Mantri Aawaas Yojan, 1.5 crore houses have been constructed in the first phase and a target has been set of constructing another 1.95 crore houses in the second phase.

·      Under the Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojna, around 1.25 lakh kilometres of roads would be upgraded.

·      Water supply and taps would be provided to every house under the Jal Shakti Ministry formed by the Government.

·      The coins of the denominations 1, 1, 5, 10 and 20 will be made available to the citizens of the country very soon.

·      The Finance Minister during her speech, thanked the taxpayers of this country by mentioning them as “honest and dedicated” taxpayers.

·      Anyone buying a house whose costing is Rs, 45 lakhs will be exempted from taxes.

·      Two rupees excise duty has been increased on the purchase of Petrol and one rupee on diesel.

·      Few items such as Mobile phones, electronic appliances will be made cheaper whereas production of tobacco, imported books, PVC pipes, synthetic rubber, CCTV and IP cameras would become expensive now.

·      A master-stroke to increase the taxpayers in the country, the government has decided to use PAN and AADHAR Card inter-changeably, which means one can now file income tax returns even if he/she doesn’t possess a PAN Card.

·      For the Defence equipment to be manufactured under the flagship programme of Make In India, customs duty on the import of defence equipment has been removed.

·      Under the Make in India programme, computer and laptop units to be manufactured in India. It is also aimed to set up massive solar manufacturing plants to increase the production of Electric Vehicles.

·      The Government has proposed issuing AADHAR Cards to all the Non-Residential Indians with a Passport after their arrival in the country without waiting for a long period of 180 days.

·      35 Crore LED Bulbs were distributed after the launching of the UJALA Yojna, which annually saves the cost amounting to around 18,341 crores.

·      The Government of India to build 17 Iconic destinations for boosting foreign tourism. 

                                 
I                          Income Tax Slabs are as under:

General Citizens	SLAB
Rs, 0 – Rs, 2.5 Lakh	NIL
Rs, 2.5 – Rs, 5 Lakh	5%
Rs, 5 – Rs, 10 Lakh	20%
Rs, 10 Lakh +	30%
Senior Citizens	SLAB
Rs, 0 – Rs, 3 Lakh	NIL
Rs, 3 – Rs, 5 Lakh	5%
Rs, 5 – Rs, 10 Lakh	20%
Rs, 10 Lakh +	30%

A few points which I, Aliasgar Kathawala personally feel that were missed:

·      No introduction of new trains which was badly needed.

·      No realistic policies related to the health sector.

·      No achievable targets for employment sector.