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Mumbai: Seeking to discourage usage of cheques, an RBI paper today suggested that banks should charge cash withdrawal and deposit through cheques, while the government agencies should do away with 'convenience charges' for online payment of utility bills.
"In order to avoid increased dependence or slippage to cash-based transactions, high (both in amount and frequency) cash withdrawals and deposits of cash by individuals may also be charged," said a discussion paper floated by RBI on 'Disincentivising Issuance and Usage of Cheques'.
The other major suggestions include restriction on number of free cheque books, high fee on cheque books, mandatory online payment of credit card bills and ban on post-dated cheques (PDCs).
As per the discussion paper, the government should do away with "convenience charges" for online payment of utility bills and discourage cheque collection boxes at public places.
The suggestions, on which the RBI has invited comments from public by February 28, seek to establish a "less-cash" society and encourage greater adoption of electronic mode of payment.
"...the cheque volumes being processed in the country are still very large. It is felt that speed of decline in usage of cheques can be enhanced by building some 'disincentives' for the cheque-users without causing any undue hardship for any particular section of the society," the paper said.
On the practice of issuing free cheque books by banks, it said, they "should be kept to a minimum number on a per annum basis. The charges levied by banks beyond this number may range from moderate to steep (slab rate) depending upon the cheque usage history of the customer".
