As fuel charges' row defused, what's next?

The government has done well to quell, temporarily at least, the protest by petrol pump owners against the move by the banks to levy a transaction charge on credit/debit cards and other plastic money while buying fuel. On Monday it was decided that banks and oil companies will share the costs of such transactions and consumers and pump owners would not be charged. One doesn’t know how long this will last. The banks were doing the Reserve Bank’s bidding, and it was just another thoughtless diktat, like so many others announced after the November 8 demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes that had to be rolled back. It is inexplicable why all those affected and all stakeholders aren’t consulted when far-reaching decisions are taken. In this case, the pumps were being made scapegoats. At first, they were allowed to take old notes till December 31, but when some protested they were being used as dumping grounds for demonetised currency and had no change to return, this was withdrawn.

Now, when the pump owners threatened to stop accepting credit/debit cards, the charges were withdrawn. The petrol pumps get just two and a half per cent commission and there are now 60-70 per cent customers paying in plastic money at petrol pumps. So the one per cent levy some private sector banks decided to demand Saturday night turned out to be a nightmare. The basic point is that so many decisions are being taken without consideration of the consequences. Why did the RBI and banks not discuss the pros and cons before issuing diktats. People are no longer docile. They have gone through immense hardships after the demonetisation. The ATMs of even India’s largest bank, State Bank of India, are still “dry” at several places across the country, as they don’t get enough cash from the RBI. The Rs 2,000 note (which many people find little use for) is being dispensed liberally as Rs 500 notes are still in short supply and Rs 1,000 notes aren’t back.

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley seems quite happy that his tax collections have risen in November-December despite the demonetisation. But at what cost? Thousands of daily wage earners have lost jobs across the country as their employers had no cash to pay them. Rural India has been hit the hardest. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought 50 days, till December 31, for things to stabilise after the demonetisation. This deadline has passed, and he is silent on the persisting chaos, with people still not able to freely access their own money. Terror attacks continue and bribery goes on merrily. Black money is generated afresh every day, and there’s no word on how this can be stopped as the politicians themselves appear involved.