Five must-read stories—December 2

Banks continue to ration cash

“The bank staff told me that they have enough money only for a few hundred withdrawals and that they have to ensure cash for as many customers as possible. So much for the ₹24,000 limit,” says Iqbal Rashid, an employee at a motorcycle showroom, 8 km away. In Indian Express.

The government shifts the goal post

Ministers too had started clubbing the demonetisation drive with a shift towards "cashless" economy. The government has put out advertisements on mass media platforms to popularise cashless transactions. Now, the motto has changed to a "less-cash" society. In The Telegraph.

Rs 4.7 crore in new currency recovered from two flats

The Government’s official restriction on withdrawal of cash remains ₹24,000 a week. Actually most banks have rationed cash and are denying account holders of even this amount. And yet there are reports from various states of seizure of cash in new currency going into crore. After the seizure of ₹20 lakhs in new currency from a BJP leader in TN, on Thursday in Bangalore a total of ₹5 crore were seized during a raid, of which ₹4.7 crore were in denomination of new ₹2,000 notes and ₹30 lakh were old and smaller notes. In The Tribune.

Uncertainty over GST

Most of the states have already approved the Goods and Services Tax Bill but there is growing support to West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra’s view that states would be affected adversely if GST is rolled out from April next year following demonetisation. Citing the “devastating” effect the “so-called demonetisation” move has wrecked on the economy, Congress leader Veerappa Moily said he “fully supported” Mitra’s view on the matter. “We are not against GST, but the government does not appear to be keen to push through GST—otherwise why would it spring this (demonetisation) on the people”. In New Indian Express.

Aadhaar to be used for making payments

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that an Android mobile app will be launched soon to enable cashless transactions for Aadhaar cardholders. He said that the app will be available in the next 15 days, and it would allow cell phones with external or in-built retina and fingerprint scanners to allow the transactions. In Daily News & Analysis.