KOCHI: There is no significant rise in usage of digital payment options while buying petrol and diesel in the state despite the 0.75 per cent discount announced by the government. “Although oil marketing companies have rolled out the scheme, it is yet to gain traction,” says M.M. Basheer, secretary of All Kerala Petroleum Dealers Association. Apart from the measly discount, the time consumed in swiping the cards has deterred people from using the digital payment system, he added. A person filling fuel worth Rs 1,000 will get a discount of Rs 7.50 in his account by making a digital payment.
“The service charges levied by some banks on usage of credit and debit cards is higher than the discount promised by the government. It may keep people from using the facility,” he said. Finance minister Arun Jaitley announced the concession on December 8 along with a slew of other measures including waiver of services charge for transactions up to Rs 2,000 using digital devices.
A spokesperson of Indian Oil Corporation in Chennai, however, claimed that the scheme was received well in metro cities. "As per feedback, the scheme did well in metro. In some of our retail outlets in metro cities, the usage of cards went up 100 per cent from 70-80 per cent of total sales," she added. According to a local dealer in Kochi, a section of customers, especially taxi, bus and truck operators, were using card payment long before the current drive by the government. The operators opted for card payment to avoid entrusting large amount of cash with employees and over invoicing of bills, he said.
