SunstarTV Bureau: Requesting banks to limit the cash transaction, Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman gave banks a deadline till March to ensure all accounts are Aadhaar-linked.
“I would think ideally by December, if not by March 31, 2021, every account should have a PAN where needed. All accounts need applicable and Aadhaar in every case. I don’t think beyond December I can even be patient to hear the excuse that there are still accounts in the banks which are not yet Aadhaar seeded,” Sitharaman said during the virtual annual general meeting of the Indian Banks’ Association.
Smt @nsitharaman delivers the keynote address at the Indian Banks’ Association’s (IBA) 73rd Annual General Meeting via video conferencing. pic.twitter.com/ChbqaC0tVo
— NSitharamanOffice (@nsitharamanoffc) November 10, 2020
The finance minister also asked banks to ensure the use of latest technology to close the loopholes in the banking system and to prevent duplication or fake beneficiaries of the government welfare schemes.
Apart from that, she also asked them to promote Unified Payments Interface-based (UPI) transactions and Rupay cards to make the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) a global brand. She emphasised on the promotion of homegrown RuPay card.
“Whoever needs the card, RuPay will be the only card you would promote. I don’t think it is necessary for Indians to use any other card when RuPay is becoming global,” she added. In support of the amalgamation of banks, she said the country needs larger banks but small ones, are also essential for rural areas.
The minister opined that union should not just remain as an exercise to bring two or three banks together. India can have eight more large banks like SBI in this country, post amalgamation, she said, adding, “I want large banks, large enough to meet the needs of a growing and aspiring India, and at the same time, smaller banks so that they can reach out to far flung areas.”
