A Central Bank of India customer has won the lucky prize of Rs 1 crore under a government scheme to promote cashless transactions, PTI reported on Monday. Though the identity of the person has not been made public, the agency reported that the user had made a transaction of Rs 1,590 using the RuPay debit card, and his transaction number was selected for the first prize.
President Pranab Mukherjee picked the six lucky winners – three customers and three merchants – at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi. A Bank of Baroda customer won the second prize of Rs 50 lakh and a Punjab National Bank customer got Rs 25 lakh as the third prize under the Lucky Grahak Yojana and Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojana. For the merchants, the first prize was Rs 50 lakh, followed by Rs 25 lakh and Rs 12 lakh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hand over the prizes at a function in Nagpur on April 14.
“India has a long way to go to become a cashless society,” Mukherjee said. “The initiatives of the government are a good beginning and we need to sustain and nurture these with active participation from all segments of the society. It is necessary to reduce cash in circulation and impart greater urgency to promoting secure digital payment methods to ensure greater transparency.”
Both the schemes were announced in December, weeks after the government demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. The initiatives were meant to promote digital payments and serve as incentives for people to use less cash. The government had scrapped high-value currency notes in its bid to fight corruption and black money.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!