Andhra CM-led panel to submit final report on digitisation soon

Expressing his displeasure at the high charges for card transactions, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister said the Chief Ministers' task-force on digitalisation headed by him will be submitting its report "very soon".

"Five Chief Ministers, Niti Aayog, all of us are working. We've given an interim report and we're going to give final report very soon," Naidu told reporters on the sidelines of a Microsoft event here.

He said after submitting the interim report last month, the committee is now studying international best models and the ways to incentivise the shift to digital.

He, however, went public with his dismay at the high charges for transacting on the point of sale machines to accept card payments. "We're charging more money on rentals at PoSes, service charges etc. That has to come down," he said.

The tech-savvy Chief Minister said there is a need for an attitudinal change among the people of the country to achieve the final aim of being cashless.

He said there are a slew of advantages which such a thing can bring about like transparency, curbing corruption and frauds, and more revenue for Government, among others.

Naidu said there is also a cost of paper, security etc for physical currency which can go down with a shift to cashless.

Meanwhile, the Andhra Government today signed a memorandum of understanding with Visa and Thomson Reuters to set up facilities at its upcoming Fintech Valley in Visakhapatnam.