The Union Cabinet has approved an ordinance that empowers all employers to pay their salaries via banks unless the salary is less than Rs 18,000.
This has been done to promote cashless economy, and to bring more and more of the economy into the formal sector.
Salary can now have to be routed through electonic payments or cheques.
It is not clear whether employers will continue to have the option of paying salaries via cash. UPDATE: It appears that the option of payment in cash will continue to be available.
The ordinance will have to be confirmed by the Parliament within six months or re-promulgated.
Reduka Chowdhary, Congress MP, criticized the move saying it would add to the burden of the common man. “There is no money in the ATMs, there’s no money in the banks.”