A big push towards increasing digitisation likely in Budget, says Anil Talreja of Deloitte

In the context of demonetisation, finance minister Arun Jaitley is likely to give further incentives to push the shift to cashless economy in the Union Budget 2017 to be presented in Parliament on 1 February, said Anil Talreja, partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells. “The finance minister did give an indication that in order to incentivise people to use electronic money or plastic money or make payment online, there will be a big push towards increasing digitisation. And that’s where the government may give the funds or resources or incentives to people to use that mode of payment,” Talreja told Firstpost in an interview. [caption id=“attachment_3210940” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Anil Talreja[/caption] The government has already announced rewards and a few other incentives to encourage customers and merchants to transition to cashless. However, there has been a view that such steps fall too short. According to a report in The Indian Express, the government may announce creation of an Acceptance Development Fund (ADF) to boost acceptance card payment infrastructure. Talreja’s comments come in this context. He is also of the opinion adjusting to the new cashless environment is also the companies’ responsibility. “The ball is now in the court of these companies for them to change their marketing. Plus the doiscounts and offers will be going more online. That’s another area for the companies to think about,” he said.   Watch the full video interview.