Watch Video | 30 days of demonetisation: Petrol, diesel to be cheaper if paid through digital mode, says Arun Jaitley

30 days after the announcement of scrapping Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday addressed a press conference. The Finance Minister announced a slew of measures to promote payment by credit, debit cards and e-wallets in the country, saying the demonetisation is aimed at moving towards digital transactions.

Here are the top highlights:

# 2 POS machines will be provided to villages with 10,000 population, 1 lakh villages to be selected

# Dealing in cash has economic costs, so the government is promoting payment by credit, debit cards and e-wallets

# Railways to give 5% discount on catering, retiring room on payment by digital mode

# Govt to expedite digital switchover; 2 PoS machines will be given to villages with 10K population, 1 lakh villages to be selected

# Insurance cover worth Rs 10 lakhs for those who book Railway tickets through digital mode

# People buying monthly seasonal tickets in the Suburban railway networks through digital payment mode, to get 0.5% discount 

# Govt wants to increase pace of switch-over to digital economy

# This is effective from Jan 1st 2017, starting from the Mumbai suburban railways

# People buying monthly seasonal tickets in the Suburban railway networks through digital payment mode, to get 0.75% discount

# NABARD will give Rupay card to people who have Kisan Credit Card: FM Jaitley 

# Government is making efforts to substitute cash with digital payment 

# RBI has made fullest efforts to distribute cash as predetermined 

# Petrol/diesel cheaper for those who pay by digital mode, to get 0.75% discount

# RBI has been releasing currency as per schedule. The aim of Demonetisation has been to move towards digital transactions

# Dealing with cash has economic costs, which is why the government is promoting payment by credit, debit cards and e-wallets

# Cash transactions kam karne ki koshish huyi hai

#Today its one month since PM announced Demonetisation decision

Earlier on Thursday, under opposition attack over demonetisation, Arun Jaitley sought to turn tables in the Lok Sabha by daring Congress to spell out a single decision it had taken against black money when it was in power for 10 years.

“I today challenge them (Congress) to spell out a single step that they had taken during 10-year of their rule against black money,” Jaitley said while replying to a short discussion on second batch of Supplementary Demand for Grants which was subsequently passed by the House amid din.

Refuting the allegation that government has given additional route to people to convert black money into white by paying 50 per cent tax, Jaitley said the effective liability on them would be about 65 per cent, much higher than 8 per cent under the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS) of 1997.

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“It is not just 50 per cent. Out of remaining 50 per cent, 25 per cent would be kept by government for four years.  If you calculate interest on that, the effective tax comes out to be 65 per cent,” he said.

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(With inputs from PTI)