Federal principles

The editorial ‘Red herrings’, (September 8) appears to have taken a simplistic view of some recent initiatives by the government. An underlying common thread is discernible in all of them — the hubris stemming from the huge majority in Parliament .

The kind of shabby treatment meted out to the Opposition is unacceptable in a democracy. The overwhelming tendency to push Hindi names which are unintelligible in south is another worrying aspect. The party in power at the Centre cannot trample on federal principles.

Manohar Alembath

Kannur

Banking for all

This refers to ‘Banking for the unbanked’ (September 8). The divide between the rural and urban segments has been bridged substantially by the Jan Dhan Yojana.

However, account holders still have to go miles to get familiarised with the various financial products and services available. Financial inclusion will be accomplished only when all the beneficiaries involved can be able to consume the products and services for which financial literacy is key.

More investment in rural areas is indispensable to enhancing the level of income of the villagers who constitute the majority of the unbanked population.

To ensure speedy financial inclusion all financial products and services must be made accessible to all sections of society.

VSK Pillai

Changanacherry

Eliminate barriers

This is with reference to “Banking for the unbanked”, (September 8). Financial inclusion is an important means for promoting economic development. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) completes nine years of successful implementation. More than 50 crore beneficiaries banked under PMJDY since inception. Total deposit balances under PMJDY accounts stand at ₹2,03,505 crore.

Even though the number of unbanked households and individuals worldwide has been falling, there is still a significant portion of the population who do not have access to banking services.

The following steps will be useful to connect the unbanked and underbanked individuals. The first step is to eliminate barriers, create mobile apps, decrease reliance on physical branches, offer prepaid products as a stepping stone, create financial education opportunities, expand credit and loan options.

P. Sundara Pandian

Virudhunagar (TN)

Safer online marketplace

Reference ‘DoCA readies draft rules to stamp out dark patterns…’ (September 8), the move by the DoCA is welcome and timely. With more commerce moving online, such a move will protect citizens, especially the less tech-savvy.

While subscribing to a service the automatic renewal option is the default one with standing instructions to the card issuer/bank for further debits. What’s more, the tick is hidden in small print and cannot be seen unless one scrolls down. This seems unfair and must be prohibited. In fact there must be no default option at all.

The proposed move by the DoCA will make the online marketplace safer.

V Vijaykumar

Pune

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