Assam govt announces a long list of incentives if one transacts digitally

After the Modi Government has made clear its intention to steer the economy towards a digital one, incentives were announced by the Central government in the hope of egging the average Indian consumer to conduct his transactions online.

Inspired by the Central government’s measures the Assam government announced a slew of measures which would compound the benefits of the consumers in Assam if they choose to transact digitally. State minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who holds important portfolios like finance, planning and development, health and family welfare, and education, announced these measures in a press conference on Monday.

Here’s a list of them, all the incentives are applicable only for digital transactions which come under the state of Assam:

1. Apart from the 0.75% discount on Petrol and Diesel, the Assam Government would provide an additional cashback of 1.5%.
2. A 10% discount on property tax & trade license fee and for any loss incurred for the same, the state government would compensate the Urban local bodies.
3. FPS would be incentivised: ₹ 10,000 award for 100% digital payment. If there are more than 10 claimants, selection would be done by lottery.
4. GPSS would be incentivised: ₹ 25,000 award if 100% digital payments done continuously.
5. CM’s Award for Assam Rural Digital Initiative ’16-17 and ₹ 50,000 for a rural bank branch if 75% users do minimum 2 digital transactions between Jan-Mar 17.
6. Villages with 100% electronic transactions till Mar 31,’17 to be given ₹ 5 lakh and CM Award for Uttam Panchayat for Digital transactions.
7. A CM Award plus ₹ 5000 cash would be given to the 1st 10 farmers in each district who conduct all their fertilizers and transactions digitally  from 1st Jan ’17 to 15th July ’17.
8. ₹ 100 per labourer would be provided as incentive to tea estate for digital payment of wages between Jan-Mar 17.
9. ₹ 5 per ticket to be given to cinema hall owners for online sale of tickets through digital payment between Jan-March’17.
10. If govt or private colleges make regular payments/receipts digitally between 1 Jan- 15 July, top 10 colleges would get ₹ 5 lakh each.
11. If 75% of total land revenue is collected digitally from Jan 1-July 15, top 10 Mauzadars would be given cash award of ₹ 25,000.
12. Entry tax for POS machines, VSAT Dish antennae, mobile WiFi would be exempted up to 31 March 2017.
13. A cash incentive of ₹ 5 to in addition to ₹ 10 already announced by Niti Aayog would be provided for citizens who migrate to digital payment mode.
14. A Digital District Championship Award and ₹ 50,000 for District Collectors who would contribute significantly to capacity building, digital transactions, brand building, sustainability of less cash economy in a district up to 31st March.
15. 10% off on hospital bills in Government hospitals for amounts exceeding ₹ 500 if paid digitally.

On top of it a directive was issued that all taxes under the Commissionerate of Taxes need to be deposited only digitally if tax amount is ₹ 10,000 or more.