Oil mantri adds fuel to digital money drive

NEW DELHI: Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan has hit the campaign trail, using petrol pumps and cooking gas dealerships of state-run fuel retailers as the government's public interface to wean people away from cash and encourage cashless payment systems.

On Saturday, Pradhan visited petrol pumps of Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum in the capital to launch a month-long programme to familiarise consumers with epayment systems such as mobile wallets etc, besides debit and credit cards. He is scheduled to visit fuel stations of Indian Oil Corporation and Indraprastha Gas Ltd on Sunday to add fuel to the campaign through direct interaction with consumers.

"The Prime Minister has launched a major economic and social reform (by taking on black money through demonetisation and promoting lesscash financial environment)...petrol pumps and LPG dealerships touch people's lives in every corner of the country . In that sense, these are the government's public touch points and will run the campaign for a month to spread awareness about e-payment methods," Pradhan told TOI after launching the campaign.