Shift to card payments to save on cash printing cost: Study

It cost the Govt. nearly Rs 2800 crore to print currency notes in 2009-10.Cash/ currency notes are the preferred mode of payment for most customers,but with printing cost on the rise, it makes sense for the Govt. to reduce usage of these notes and shift cash transactions to a card-based system of payment. Right now, a mere 5% of retail sales or about 90000 crore worth of transactions in India are done through cards(credit & debit).In other words, card transactions reduced cash transactions in the retail sector by about 5% .Given the cost of printing notes,card usage leads to savings of about Rs 140 crore(i.e,5%of Rs 2800 crore), in currency management, says a study conducted by Prof. Ashis Das, Professor of Maths,IIT Bombay.(BL 06092010)