[earthian]

Originally Posted by ptushar

I think we need to do our part to enable this change.

Wholeheartedly agree. Nearly all payments are electronically done. Remaining are the part time mali, maid, phoolwallah, milk vendor and newspaper vendor. Shall ensure the same is done asap.

[DragonHawk]

Originally Posted by rajesh1868

Cooking Gas: Not sure if they will bring a swipe machine.Need to see how I manage this next time. Last time I had payed by cash but while booking there is an automated message that says card machines will be there.

I don`t know much about piped gas but if you are talking about bottled gas, all OMC`s are asked to promote cashless and many have got enrolled in PayTM, FreeCharge etc and moreover I have been paying my gas bill online during booking itself since more than a year. Also my brother owns a distributorship of one of the PSU and he has made sure his delivery boys are given MPOS. So you can check your agency and you can pay whichever way you like which they support.

[binand]

Originally Posted by rajesh1868

Cooking Gas: Not sure if they will bring a swipe machine.Need to see how I manage this next time.

Yesterday a cylinder was delivered to my house. I checked with the delivery person what the options were - he said he'd accept Paytm but not card or cheque. I suppose this is a dealer-side decision, so check with your's.

[rm_arjuna]

made online booking and Paid online for our last refill to avoid paying in 100's on bharatgas site .

[navin]

Originally Posted by ptushar

You don't have to restrict yourself to Pockets. In the coming days, it will become clear as to which app will provide the best and quickest features.

Pockets ain't too friendly. PayTM is way easier to use (although not part of UPI).

Originally Posted by msdivy

There is a reason why people don't keep their money in banks..

I would think a bank is one of the safest places.

Originally Posted by ptushar

I would sincerely suggest that you pay them through bank transfers. If they don't have bank accounts, then help them open a bank account.I think we need to do our part to enable this change.

Can't agree more. We seniors are in the best position to do that. Many of us, due to our age have developed good relations with bank managers and a word from us can help "convince" these managers to assist the less literate in opening accounts. So far the milk man, bread man, vegetable vendor and a host of other minor vendors in the building we live in have all opened accounts and get debit cards issued.

The next step is to convince banks to issue fatter check books as many more transactions will take that route, at least this the UPI thing takes hold. Just today, one of the vendors serving us came to me with a Moto E3 Power (he needed to cut his SIM to put it in the new phone). I asked him why he bought such an expensive phone, and he talked about UPI and mobile banking.
https://www.flipkart.com/moto-e3-pow...mekgt2fbywqgcv

[Zappo]

There is this new app from Flipkart called PhonePe although it seems to suggest that it is by Yes Bank. I found this app interesting. Unlike other banks UPI apps that need you to have your account with them to use the app PhonePe seems to have no such need. It says you can move money from one bank account (any bank) to another bank account. Effectively they have built a better PayTM which obviates the need to have a wallet. The money moves from bank account to bank account instantly based on phone numbers.

I think I will download this app to understand what it offers. It definitely sounds interesting to me if it is bank agnostic.

[Chetan_Rao]

@Zappo: ICICI Bank's Pockets is the same. An account holder can use UPI through the bank's iMobile app itself (UPI works well because of widespread coverage, ~29 banks at last count), while Pockets is bank-agnostic.

Once third party e-wallets inevitably start charging for their services, bank-provided UPI apps should pick up more traction as these are both safer (some seem to support two-factor authentication too) and provide account to account transactions without a middleman.

[ptushar]

Originally Posted by Zappo

I think I will download this app to understand what it offers. It definitely sounds interesting to me if it is bank agnostic.

Technically all UPI wallet apps are to be bank agnostic. The concept & power of UPI is to enable payments across banks. Even in Pockets you can actually add other bank accounts to the same VPA. Go to the tab called "Manage" on the Pockets App and select "Add bank acocunt". You can link, say, your HDFC bank account to the same VPA that you have on Pockets for your ICICI bank account. Select "Link your VPA" and when you click Continue, it will show you a dropdown with the list of various banks.

If you have multiple bank accounts linked to the same VPA, you can select which account is the default for Credit and which is default for Debit. You can change this anytime you want.

It's like having a the GMail App on your phone and you can actually use the same app for connecting your Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo email accounts. Similar concept, but with bank accounts.

ICICI have also launched an App called EazyPay. Haven't tried it yet. In the coming days there will be a flurry of launches, both through banks and private wallets for UPI. The best part of UPI, you can choose whichever app you like.

But for people who are starting off with UPI, I would suggest that you create it with a single linked bank account to avoid any confusion. Once you are used to UPI transactions, then you can always experiment.

[pramodkumar]

I hope this is fake.



What was the point of such high drama if this was to follow?

Pramod

[RSR]

If the above is true, then the Prime Minister will completely lose whatever support he got from the common people (including yours truly) for the demonetisation drive - for it would turn political parties into money laundering machines for the black-moneyed hordes!

If this alleged loophole exists, and if the government fails to plug it immediately, then it would mean political suicide for Mr. Modi (as he took full ownership of the demonetisation process).

[GrammarNazi]

They're now exempt upto ₹20,000 in old currency post 8th November.

For donations in the new currency, the same law prevails :


I guess it'll be quite relevant to know the overwhelmingly massive percentage of political parties who've not even actually contested elections. They might be depositing currency in parts of ₹20,000 (with new notes) into their bank accounts so they don't have to disclose the donors to election commission.

Originally Posted by RSR

If the above is true, then the Prime Minister will completely lose whatever support he got from the common people (including yours truly) for the demonetisation drive - for it would turn political parties into money laundering machines for the black-moneyed hordes!...

This was the response of the president of the ruling party when asked why political parties shouldn't come under RTI :

https://youtu.be/jTKcwgklPNg

[poloman]

This can severely back fire. Tax exemption may be given to political parties if they deposit cash to their party accounts. But a disclosure on how much each party has deposited should be made public.

[drmohitg]

And after all the discussions and fights and debates and heated arguments and comparisons of your nationality with that of a soldier, comes this wonderful news.

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/polit...-lateststories

All political parties can change their old currency with new one without any tax scrutiny. I think we should officially close this thread now. Nothing can be more disappointing, disgusting and obnoxious than this news report. All the while I was venting out my frustration that conversions are happening out openly in the market but somewhere subconsciously there was a sense of content that atleast the bad people are losing some money if not all of it and the biggest chunk of this wealth lies with political supremos. This news just makes me honestly puke. What a mockery they have made out of this whole exercise. And it is so convenient to bring out this news towards the end of this 50 day period ( as per the news report it's an old rule). They knew all along but didn't bring it out in public as it would have caused a upright rejection of this policy. In the end nothing has changed in our country and as always the common man suffered.

Government to common man - "Checkmate!!".

[Samurai]

Unfortunately, it is a law from 1961. Political parties never had to pay income tax because of that. Current government can't change that. All parties benefit from it.

Ever since 1961, political parties could accept any amount of money without incurring tax. But their accounts will be audited and balance sheet available for scrutiny. As a result they used to keep the black cash out of their accounts to escape scrutiny.

Now they are depositing old 500/1000 into their accounts. That means we can look at the source of these black money, as they have to explain where all the money came from. Not sure why this is a bad thing.

Members are advised to refrained from making political comments on the matter - Support Team

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by Samurai

...That means we can look at the source of these black money, as they have to explain where all the money came from

Who's we? If you mean common Joe public, let's not forget these are institutions the common public isn't even allowed to query under RTI, forget demand official scrutiny on.

Not sure why this is a bad thing.....

Rhetorical question I presume?

It's bad because the ones under scrutiny are also the ones who need to sign the proverbial 'warrants', no matter how convoluted the procedure is intentionally twisted to project an aura of independent functioning. Don't need rocket scientists to figure out how that will go.

It's pretty obvious now that every care has been taken to safeguard the bureaucracy, either by making scrutiny impossible, and/or subsequent prosecution so tenuous that it's practically useless to pursue, not to forget we the people will pick up the tab for all of it, literally with our taxes.

There's no way of saying anything further on this topic that can't or won't be construed political, so I'd politely request we shut this thread down.

P.S. Before the pitchforks come out branding me a certain type for not supporting the govt., I always questioned the 'how' while supporting the 'why' of this initiative, but I find it increasingly farcical to pretend this is actually going to do anything it was proclaimed to do.