Go digital, save money

The Centre has been urging everyone to adopt digital means of transacting to ease the pain caused by the cash crunch following demonetisation. To give this drive further momentum, a series of sops were announced recently for those using digital means to pay for goods and services. Keep these incentives in mind while you go about your daily business.

Public sector oil marketing companies offer 0.75 per cent discount to customers on petrol and diesel paid for through digital mode.

Say you spend around ₹8,000 per month on petrol; that’s about ₹1 lakh a year. Digital payments could save you about ₹750 annually. You also benefit if auto or cab operators who pay through digital modes pass on their savings.

Booking train tickets through digital mode will help you get accident insurance of ₹10 lakh per person, free of cost.

Besides, for railways affiliated services — such as service room facilities and catering services — going cashless can help you save 5 per cent. For example, if you and your family spend ₹2,000 on Indian Railway’s e-Catering Service, going cashless can save you ₹100. Suburban travellers also have something to look forward to.

Monthly seasonal passes bought digitally enjoy a 0.5 per cent discount.

Also, if you have to cross a toll booth every day, using radio frequency identity or re-loadable fast tags will cut the toll charges by 10 per cent. In cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, daily commuters crossing toll points pay an average of ₹1,500-2,000 per month. This new initiative can save them around ₹1,800-2,400 a year.

Besides, if you make frequent road trips in cars, use this offer and save good money.

Going digital to purchase a general or life insurance from a public sector insurance company will help you pocket 10 and 8 per cent discount, respectively.

But these are only for new policies and the insurance companies may also have a limit on the discount amount.

For instance, New India Assurance gives 10 per cent discount in motor, personal, accident, health and home insurance for new customers who buy the policy online, subject to a maximum of ₹2,000 per policy.

Also, the directive about service tax exemption for digital transactions up to ₹2,000 is actually not a big cost saver.

The service tax on the transaction value is not waived off. Rather, it is the service tax on the charge paid by the merchant to the bank (about 2 per cent of the transaction value) that is waived off.

This does not cut down on your cost significantly, even if the merchant passes on the benefit.

At about 15 per cent of the 2 per cent charge payable by the merchant to the bank, the waiver could reduce the cost by just about 0.3 per cent.

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