Digital transactions have grown exponentially: Minister

New Delhi, Jan 20: The number of digital financial transactions made through Unified Payments Interface and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data mode has grown exponentially by 3,574 per cent and 10,603 per cent, respectively, till January 18, Union Minister P.P. Chaudhary said here on Friday."As on January 19, 2017, over 3.8 lakh customers and 21,000 merchants have been rewarded under Lucky Grahak Yojana and DigiDhan Vyapar Yojana," Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Law and Justice and Electronics and Information Technology, said while addressing an Assocham summit Growing cashless & digital economy .He also said that common service centres (CSCs) are functioning as ground level soldiers for spreading awareness about less-cash economy in the country."Since the beginning of the month of December 2016, a total of 1.97 crore citizens and 6.15 lakh merchants have been trained by CSC workers as on January 19, 2017," he said.Chaudhary said various other societies and organisations within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology like National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology and National Informatics Center have also started undertaking initiatives for awareness building and training on digital payments.He said the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app has witnessed several million downloads in the country in a span of just few days. "With further updates of applications to be released in the coming few days, we expect it to become the mainstay for undertaking financial transactions throughout the economy sooner than envisaged earlier."The minister said the digital payment will generate a transparent economy and enhance direct and indirect tax collection. "We can assume there can be a rise of 25 per cent of the direct taxes and this money could be used in shoring up infrastructure to bridge the divide between rural and urban," he added.