New Delhi: The currency notes that we exchange every day are potential carriers of coronavirus. Confirming this, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that the government must announce incentives to encourage digital payments, as per the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), reported ZeeNews quoting IANS.
On March 9, 2020, CAIT had written a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman seeking clarification on whether or not currency notes are carriers of bacteria and viruses. The letter was forwarded by Finance Ministry to RBI.
CAIT National president BC Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said the reply from RBI hints that the currency notes do carry viruses and bacteria and this is the main reason why the use of digital payments should be encouraged to avoid handling of currency notes, the report said.
“Bank charges levied for digital transactions should be waived and the government should give subsidy directly to the banks in lieu of bank charges. In due course, such subsidy will not be a financial burden on the government; on the other hand, it will minimise the expenses incurred on printing of bank notes,” Zee News quoted from a CAIT statement.
