Centre has constituted a committee to look into digital payments for all government-citizen transactions, with an aim to weed out black money and corruption from public life.

The Committee of Officers, under the leadership of NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, will identify and operationalise in the earliest possible timeframe user-friendly digital payment options in all sectors of the economy, reports PTI. This is an integral part of the government's strategy to transform India into a cashless economy, it added.

The statement said that, aim of the committee is to identify various digital payment systems appropriate to different sectors of the economy and coordinate efforts to make them accessible and user-friendly. The committee will also screen the bottlenecks affecting the access and utility of digital payment options.

The committee will take effort to estimate costs involved in various digital payments options and oversee implementation of measures to make such transactions between government and citizens cheaper than cash transaction. The committee will also implement an action plan on advocacy, awareness and handholding efforts among public, micro enterprises, and other stakeholders.

Members of the Committee of Officers include Department of Financial Services Secretary, Ministry of Finance; Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology; Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion; Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management; MD & CEO, National Payments Corporation of India; Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development; Chairman, National Highways Authority of India, and Adviser, NITI Aayog.

Goodreturns.in