India can save Rs 70K cr by reducing cash transactions: Visa

New Delhi: India can save up to Rs 70,000 crore in the next five years by taking measures to reduce cash handling by widening digital transactions base, global payments gateway Visa said today.

The Indian economy has a high cost of cash because of significant cost of time, effort and resources, operating and maintaining cash infrastructure, high cost of cash withdrawals, moving and managing cost, Visa said.

India would benefit by providing fiscal incentive to consumers and merchants, new regulations, digitisation of government payments, new technology adoption, open-loop systems for mass transit, inter-ministerial collaboration to transit to a less-cash society, it said.