Ever since I've joined Steemit, the anarchist in me is growing! Government of India is busy trying to encourage a cashless economy at the expense of the unbanked and those who have poor access to banking in general. Today I woke up to the news of our Indian banks coming to a consensus of implementing new set of charges for services that were earlier rendered free of cost.
This move is unbelievably absurd as the banks will now charge 18% GST on basic services such as withdrawals, deposits, net banking, KYC, change of address etc. This move solidifies my opinion that traditional banking and the government are a bunch of thugs in power trying to profit at our expense.
There's a reason for my strong opinion-which would be considered quite unpopular in my country owing to the majority that blindly follow the government. A large portion of Indian economy is rural economy with a major portion of the economy consisting of people in the lower-to-middle income category.
Can you imagine students withdrawing INR 100 ($1.57) and paying 10% of it as fees to the bank! It suddenly feels like the incredible Bitcoin and it's ever increasing exorbitant fees!
Oh! The Irony...
The great government of India on one hand paints a rosy picture of a digital India where people have greater access to online banking and on the other allows the private and nationalised banks of the country to rip-off hard working citizens who are already burdened by ever increasing direct and in-direct taxes as well as rising inflation and lower interest rates on fixed deposits-which the government is directly responsible for!
It saddens me that my country isn't rising up against such atrocities. The irony is in the fact that our government wants to warn us against use of cryptocurrencies with some stating they are not real money. The govt and these banks want to show us a number in our online banking accounts and fewer pieces of paper in our wallet. How do they expect the economy to function or support them in their endeavours when they seem to forgetting how this affects the larger population.
The move is aimed at encouraging paperless transactions but they want to charge us for everything. Imagine the plight of millions of Indians who are facing difficulties due to these constant, almost-lunatic changes in policy. Wait, they did it earlier with demonetisation and didn't give a damn about the population in general. So this isn't shocking after all!
I understand that the banks have costs to cover and they are in the business of making a profit as anyone else. It would've been great if the masses had a choice between a traditional bank and something more radical such as a cryptocurrency based solution that was cheap to use. Then these banks would have no other recourse than to get competitive and offer lower fees and improve services.
Cryptocurrencies couldn't have been invented any sooner and I can't wait to see some major disruptions in the banking sector from a crypto and blockchain revolution. I hope the next few years will bring a mass adoption and revolution that we need, beyond the pumps and dumps that we've witnessed so far!
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The corrupt political establishment and greedy banksters are just digging their own graves at this point. They still haven't seen the writing on the wall. Their hubris and arrogance is blinding them to what is currently taking place!
These kind of poorly-conceived fee hikes are going to drive even more people into the growing, global cryptocurrency-based economy.
We don't need Banks now with such amount of fees...They are charging fees for service that can be automated in blockchain......Imagine for a moment that you did not have a bank account. No debit or credit card, no access to an ATM, just a mobile with crypto-currency wallet and every merchant accepting crypto payments, which you can pay just by scanning the barcode....Then, do we really need a bank? I think now the focus should be to convince merchants to accept crypto-currency....
It's true. It is an inevitable future in my opinion. The only problems with things going in that directions are things that are going to improve and get better over time. It is too expensive for merchants to keep paying their credit card fees when they could be transacting for fractions of a penny with crypto.
When the power goes out, so does blockchain and every other electronic commerce. Until the power grid is guaranteed 100%, there will all ways be cash in my pocket.
or gold or silver! :)
I believe they are trying to rip off before crypto market deepens its roots in India. Baad mei kuch nahi milega. 😂 😂 😂
Lol! For sure man! The govt and the banks are hand in glove! :D
One of the reasons government is issuing statements against crypto is fear. The fear of people giving up on paper currency and adopting crypto which would be tantamount to economic depression. Or failure.
Second, this analogy of helping the poor and at the same time allowing bank to raise charges reminds me of what's happening in my home state (himachal)
The newly elected govt said that (in a press statement) we need to curb our expenses. Officers and employees should devise new ways to reduce consumption of all sorts.
In the evening the cabinet of ministers unanimously approved buying new Innovas for all the elected MLAs.
What stupidity. And what chicanery.
there is a reason why India lagged behind implementing industrial revolution and internet evolution. I think most of the government employees are not visionaries they just know facts and figures thats it. They all know that bank will fight for their survival in future because of increasing competition in mobile technology and low charges but instead of implementing new technologies like Blockchain into the system what they come up is with higher prices.
Since I started getting into cryptocurrencies I feel Indian policy makers does the shittiest job in the world, their talks about startup India and forming new companies are all rubbish. I mean how could you progress when you are so lazy in thinking about emerging technologies. In 6-7 months a lot technologies will emerge like steemit ... we could see next chrome (brave browser ) next facebook (tron/ robin8 ) but what Indians will do, they all will go and work in these companies get the salaries and push up in their arse.
I understand so well what your talking about and your frustration. Here in my country, Bulgaria is the same. For instance banks have announced that till the end of this year they will raise the interest rate on mortgage loans which is anyway very high strating from almost 10%. And also being afraid of the crypto revolution some banks have banned all transactions from crypto exchange platforms.
We don't want our money to decrease in value over time... #BankFreeIndia #BankFreeWorld... :P
You have a complete leader spirit firepower👍
Jan Ka Dhan Khao Yojna:)
very good article as usual. thanks for keeping us informed!
i think cryptocurrency ban in india
nope!
many Asian countries are facing such isses
i follow you. Would you like to visit my photography.
Only if they were your own photography and if you start posting original content I will reconsider. :)
Also here in the Philippines 🇵🇭
It takes forever to do a transaction 😂
Berharap agar semua baik-baik saja @firepower
Oh, we seriously need a revolution... glad it's on the way! I can't believe how absurd this is. It's basically stealing money from people and calling it "fees". It's sad that they can get away with this. Hopefully everything will turn around soon and the banks are going to fail big time!
I am agree with your opinion in the last
Corruption everywhere
Soon enough you will see negative interest rates uhh yeah pass no thank you goverment
It is indeed true governments ant to rip off the masses,first t hey want or are banning the better option ie crypto and scaring people.
After scaring the people to stay away from crypto,now they hike banking fees.!!
People will obviously revolt and move in huge numbers to crypto...they are forcing more peopleto crypto.
One day we wont need these thief's anymore.
Sad though, but this is the problem that great men of history foresaw and spoke against. "It is well enough that people of the nations do not understand the banking and monetary system, for if they do, I believe there would be a revolution by tomorrow morning" - Henry Ford.
GSt on basic services like address update and kyc is really nonsensical.
In my country Venezuela things are even worse than in India.
I believe crypto is a blessing to the whole world thanks to the opportunities it provides, especially for countries suffering economic disasters.
Let’s all hope crypto really end up taking over the world.
One of the greatest thefts in history took place when the silver rupee was demontized!
@firepower weldone. This is great. I love it
This is really interesting to read, as I have no clue at all about how things are in India, so I appreciate these posts. All of currency are becoming wild cards these days. Such an interesting/unnerving/exciting time.
I have a question about many of the Indians who likely don't have internet access in certain very poor areas: what do they do in the face of a coming digital economy? Or is this not as common as I think? Maybe the first question is how are they "doing things" now?
In a similar way I do worry a little about some of our communities in Canada, but less so as the internet is so ubiquitous here, and government programs often cover those kinds of things.
Hope it's not a stupid question! But I often think of those around the world at the enormous disadvantage of not having internet access, and not having a lifetime of experience with computers in such a time as this. There is one guy on here in an African country I don't remember, and he is using some of his earnings to set up little free-access internet cafes for this reason.
I believe they are trying to rip off before crypto market deepens its roots in pakistan. bia peke sa neshta. 😂 😂 😂
While many countries are trying to take advantage of this, others are rejecting it. Lets see which other surprises the future will bring us :)
Government needs to do access of internet to across India then i will be happen in a good way and it can be more reliable
This is a sad truth. Banks feel like entitled since they know that the economy needs their existence. They are actually using this to their advantage, as if blackmailing the government. In the end, it's the people who suffers -- hardworking individuals who themselves make the economy move as well.
Let's just wait. People now are becoming smarter (I hope), and more and more of us are starting to realize that we should have the upper hand. Let the banks beware.
Sounds like it's getting the populace by the balls and starting to squeeze.
Nothing good will happen until the oligarchs are thrown to the dogs.
I'm still a proponent of the barter system. Back in the day in America if you couldn't afford to pay for a meal, then you washed some dishes or earned it in another way. At least until crypto is more widely accepted and easy to use, it might be a good fall back to learn some bartering tricks to bypass the banking system, where possible.
I agree with you.
Nice post . Thanks for sharing.
I was surprised when I heard that the Indian government was going to move to a cashless society. From memory it was to combat crimes rates in the country. I can understand the reason why they do it in that sense, but to implement it in the way they did and to go through with something like what you brought to our attention is outrageous. To make it a sustainable system it has to be one that people can agree to and for this to follow the shocking change the Indian community when through with the conversion to paperless economy, I think more thought needs to be given before action!
Considering the Rural sector which cover major portion, i wud consider this suggestion s ridiculous. Overall v r getting charged for our own money, just to get interest of 4%.
Well the uproar has slowly started , expect the changes soon.
I like the passion behind your writings, I can almost immediately connect when I read your articles. Thx for sharing
Cool
Let them increase the fees! It will drive everyone to cryptocurrency. They haven't learned the business lesson "The pigs get fat but the hogs get butchered" If you are a "hog" by trying to get as much out of your customers as possible, you will get butchered.
It's quite obvious by now that the government still doesn't have a clue about how to control the massive movement that is crypto adoption. Hence the repeated warnings about it not being a legal tender and about doing so at your own risk. Well, we all participate in the banking system at our own risk as well, considering they are planning on reaching into the fixed deposits of ordinary citizens to cover for the losses made by loaning money to billionaire defaulters including Mr. Mallya.
There may soon be special GST and specific tax for crypto gains or we may once again have to fight for net neutrality if the government feels that it is a reasonable way to fight the crypto revolution. After all, India does try to emulate the US in more ways than one. We can definitely expect a few more shocking changes in the country's financial policy before everyone realizes that the government and the ones responsible for the country's economy are taking us for a ride.
Crypto adoption is definitely going to reach a frenzy in India and when it happens the government is expecting to be ready to pull the rug from under those who are invested deeply into it. It still remains to be seen how this regulation is going to happen and if there will be enough support for the revolution.
Thanks for this article. It is kind of a relief knowing that not everyone is wearing blinders to what is happening in the country.
"Never forget only dead fish swim with the stream" - Malcolm Muggeridge
They are feeling it All the way
What an informative post. I had read that note about bank charges but missed the implications, Thanks @firepower for being vigilant for us.