Govt asks banks to install additional 10 lakh POS

Government has asked banks to install 10 lakh additional Point of Sale, PoS terminals by March, next year in order to promote digital transactions across the country. A Finance Ministry statement said, banks have already placed orders for 6 lakh PoS machines and another 4 lakh are likely to be ordered in the next few days. There are currently about 15 lakh PoS terminals across different merchants to facilitate card based payments.

To



encourage purchase of PoS machines, government has also waived 16.5 per cent excise duty payable on acquisition till March 31st next year. A special drive is being undertaken jointly by the Ministry of Labour and Employment and States' Administration to open banks accounts for unorganised labour by holding camps at various locations. Nearly 2 lakh 74,000 camps have been organised, so far, in which over 24 lakh accounts have been opened.