In an effort to curb black money generated through domestic sources, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has again pitched for using plastic currency and cheques.

“As the economy grows, there is a roadmap, and the roadmap is that more and more people start discarding the use of currency and switch over to either cheques or plastic currency,” he said in his address during the Foundation Day celebrations of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) here on Friday.

In this Budget, Jaitley had announced the government will soon introduce several measures to incentivise credit or debit card transactions, and disincentivise cash transactions. Jaitley said in a developed country, such as the US, the maximum value of a currency is $100. “One of the objectives is to disincentivise the use of currency and incentivise the use of plastic currency or any other negotiable instrument that is available. That is the eventual target,” he said.

The government has taken steps to incentivise the use of credit and debit cards and putting a cap on cash transactions. Quoting PAN has been made mandatory for all sale and purchase of over ₹1 lakh. He also proposed to amend the Income Tax Act to prohibit acceptance or payment of an advance of ₹20,000 or more in cash for purchase of immovable property.

Jaitley lauded the progress made by SPMCIL in the production of bank notes and coins and the steps taken to modernise the units.

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