NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is working on a mechanism that will bring down the cost for online transactions in a bid to move the country towards a cashless economy, media reports indicated.
According to a media outlet, the RBI governor Urjit Patel had told the public acccounts committee (PAC) that the central bank is in talks with all the stakeholders for such a plan.
After the briefing in front of the Parliamentary committee, Patel is now briefing the public accounts committee (PAC) on Friday. The media report further pointed out the central bank governor has indicated the normalisation of cash flow soon.
The governor asserted that the situation was normal in the urban areas while further efforts were being made to improve the situation in rural and distant areas of the country.
Two days back, the governor had said Rs 9.2 lakh crore of new currency has been infused into the system since the demonitisation drive. He, however, did not divulge any details as to how much of old currency has been returned.
One of the PAC members reportedly pointed out the mismatch between the cash deposited in the co-operative banks and the actual cash to which Patel said he was “aware of the issue.” Patel pointed out that the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) was looking at the issue, according to the media report.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a member of the Parliamentary Committee, had come to the rescue of Patel when other panel members were reportedly grilling him. Singh asserted the need to respect the RBI as an institution and not put the governor to odd questions.