Digital payment incentives reward small-value cashless transactions, boosting adoption, inclusion and Aadhaar-enabled payment use nationwide.
A national promotional scheme uses daily, weekly and monthly lucky-draw incentives to encourage small-value digital payments. Eligible channels include RuPay cards, UPI/BHIM, USSD *99# and Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS). The 100-day initiative pairs centralized prize draws and public outreach events to drive adoption, widen formal financial access, and measure impact through qualification volumes, prize disbursements and increased platform usage.

Digital payment incentives boost adoption through prize linked schemes for card, UPI, USSD and AePS users.
NITI Aayog launched prize linked incentive schemes - Lucky Grahak Yojana for consumers and Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojana for merchants - running until April 14, 2017, with eligibility for transactions made via RuPay, BHIM/UPI, USSD *99# and AePS; the schemes award daily and weekly winners to promote merchant acceptance, consumer adoption and increased use of digital payment channels.

Money laundering probe under PMLA results in arrests and judicial production of businessmen for custodial proceedings.
Action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act led to arrests of two businessmen accused of channeling funds through a bank branch to foreign locations using suspected shell companies; they were to be produced for custody. The investigation is characterized as trade based money laundering, alleging customs duty and tax evasion to generate illicit funds, and runs alongside a parallel criminal and anti corruption inquiry that has resulted in prior arrests of bank officials.

Goods and Services Tax unification aims to end tax cascading and increase transparency, easing interregional goods movement.
The Government will prioritise accelerated infrastructure and rural development, including roads, village electrification, airports, rail modernisation and rural schemes. The Goods and Services Tax Act is presented as the major indirect tax reform to unify central and state levies, reduce tax cascading, curb evasion, enhance transparency and enable seamless interregional movement of goods. The statement also highlights openness to foreign direct investment, the integration effects of recent demonetization on formalisation and digitisation, and notes macroeconomic challenges such as oil price uncertainty, weak global growth and non performing assets.

Insolvency reform strengthens time bound resolution and institutional mechanisms to enhance investor confidence in financial and corporate investments.
The address presents reforms to enhance investor confidence by strengthening insolvency resolution through the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 with time bound processes and institutional pillars, and by proposing a Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance framework creating a Resolution Corporation, classifying financial service providers by viability risk and consolidating deposit insurance. It highlights faster recovery via DRT/SARFAESI amendments, expanded avenues for debenture holders, liberalised external commercial borrowings and FDI policy changes that simplify conditionalities, aggregate direct and portfolio inflows for sectoral caps, and measures to ease doing business while flagging risks from multilayered cross border structures and BEPS.

Digital payment can curb black money and corruption; youth urged to promote digital transactions and adopt BHIM.
Digital payment is advanced as a means to check black money and graft by shifting people from hard currency to electronic transactions, mobilising youth as ambassadors and an "anti-corruption cadre," deploying rewards and merchant incentives, and pursuing targeted BHIM application outreach to accelerate adoption.

Withdrawal of legal tender: specified old high denomination banknotes cease to be RBI liabilities and face restricted exchange with penalties.
The Specified Bank Notes ceased to be RBI liabilities under the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Ordinance 2016; limited exchange/deposit facilities were provided for eligible persons absent during the initial exchange window subject to KYC, verification and passport identity requirements, with penalties for false declarations and restrictions on holding, transferring or receiving SBNs except for minimal amounts for study or numismatics.

Demonetisation seeks formalisation of the economy and to transfer resources from tax evaders to the public treasury.
Demonetisation is presented as a policy measure to curb black money and formalise the economy by withdrawing specified high denomination notes, prompting remonetisation and expansion of digital payments, with anticipated transient disruption but long term gains in measured GDP, higher tax revenues, greater bank liquidity, and lower borrowing and lending rates as part of ongoing economic reforms.

Digital payments adoption accelerates as national app praised for faster transactions and anti-corruption technology, boosting trader and youth usage.
The Prime Minister reported rapid national adoption of the government-supported BHIM mobile payment application, noting widespread downloads and emphasizing that the App enables faster, easier digital transactions, appeals to youth, benefits traders, and exemplifies indigenous technology under Make in India while contributing to anti-corruption and cashless economy objectives.

Consulting appointment for ease of doing business to implement targeted reforms and improve World Bank ranking via QCBS procurement.
DIPP issues an RfP to appoint a consulting agency, via QCBS, to assist Central and State governments in implementing reforms across the ten World Bank Doing Business indicators to achieve a top 50 ranking. The agency must analyse global best practices, study Doing Business methodology, propose and support tailored legal/regulatory amendments, conduct field studies and stakeholder consultations (Delhi and Mumbai), place a Project Manager and five staff at DIPP, deliver monthly reports, and comply with EMD, Performance Security, confidentiality, IP assignment of deliverables, insurance, penalties and the two year engagement period.

Withdrawal of legal tender: specified high denomination notes cease as liabilities, with limited post cessation exchange safeguards.
The Withdrawal of Legal Tender declared certain Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 banknotes invalid for payment and store of value from the cessation date, with exchange and deposit windows at banks, post offices and designated RBI offices that largely closed on the notified date. The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Ordinance provides a limited grace facility at five RBI offices for eligible residents and non residents abroad during the exchange window, permits post cessation deposits subject to verification and KYC compliance, prescribes penal fines for false declarations and unlawful holding or transfer of specified notes, and establishes corporate liability for contraventions.

Official misconduct: mandatory reporting by public sector banks of staff involvement in illegal currency conversion, triggering inspections and investigative referrals.
The Finance Ministry has directed public sector banks to submit reports identifying officials who engaged in illegal currency conversion or violated government and Reserve Bank directions during demonetisation, obliging banks to disclose particulars for administrative or criminal follow-up; banks retain responsibility for internal disciplinary and criminal proceedings while the Ministry continues vigilance proceedings against directors, and regulatory or investigative agencies may conduct inspections or inquiries based on the reports.