PANJIM: The government’s push to going cashless has been marred by a shortage of Point of Sale (POS) machines.
Although the government has planned strategies to promote digital payments for all government-citizen transactions, the shortage of POS machines has delayed the push towards a cashless economy at Commercial Tax and Excise departments for now.
“The POS machines have to be arranged by the banks, and there is a shortage. It is across the country,” Information & Technology Director Ameya Abhyankar said on Monday. This, however, hasn’t discouraged the State from continuing its efforts towards going cashless. The officer stated that government departments having direct public interface will soon go cashless as their transactions will by and large switch over to online payments and cheques.
“Discussions with most government departments are underway. Those with public interface are being taken in the first phase,” Information & Technology Director Ameya Abhyankar said on Monday. Interestingly, the government’s earlier claim on going cashless by December 31 saw a twist with fresh remarks that its aim is at reducing use of hard cash to a large extent.
The IAS officer claimed that after Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) and Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) have achieved cashless working whereas employees at around 32 government departments have completed training for digital dealings.
“In one-and-half month’s time, we conducted training camps for 32 government departments. Banks have organized consumer awareness programmes covering around 20-30,000 people,” he said.
While government departments are bracing up to introduce digital transactions, private players such as beach shack and taxi operators have agreed to go digital. Abhyankar, a former Tourism Director, asserted that stakeholders are positive about introducing POS and mobile wallets.
