GUWAHATI: The highly contagious Covid-19 pandemic has made cashless transactions more preferable over the traditional hand-to-hand cash transactions. The government has urged all state agencies to opt for cashless transactions, especially the Regional Transport Offices.
In pursuance of this initiative, the District Transportation Office (DTO) has gone cashless this year. Although the move is considered highly befitting and cashless transactions are supposedly more transparent, the same has become a major reason of concern for many.
As majority of the drivers and even the vehicle owners are from the lower middle or lowest income group, making larger transactions via cashless methods, by card or net banking, is proving troublesome.
Jiten Singh, a truck driver who was fined around Rs. 55,000 for overloading, speaking to G Plus said, "The agencies overload the trucks for their benefit, we just deliver the products. Firstly, we have to face the consequences of doing so and pay fines to the authorities. Now the new problem is that the authorities do not accept cash. I do have a bank card. My owner is from Rajasthan and he did send the fine to my account. But there is a limit of Rs. 25,000 in my card. How will I pay at one go?"
Although citizens who need to pay smaller amounts for the services provided by the DTO are happy with the move, for those who are caught with fines higher than Rs.25,000 are at a loss.
With a cap of about Rs. 25,000 per day for cashless transactions, the defaulters can return the next day to pay the second installment of the fine. However, reportedly, there is no provision of paying the fine in installments.
Another driver from Meghalaya informed that he did not have any card and has no knowledge about net banking. "Earlier when they took cash we were able to arrange the same from associate agencies or drivers, but the cashless thing has become a major hindrance," he said.
Sources said that higher authorities have been informed about the situation and immediate respite needs to be provided.
