Azerbaijan, Baku, 1 May / corr. Trend I. Khalilova/ The National Bank of Azerbaijan (NBA) has developed proposals to be introduced to the government within the next few days in order to encourage the development of the cashless system, Elman Rustamov, the chairman of NBA Board of Directors said in the meeting of the parliament commission on economic policy on 30 April.
Serious work has been carried out for the automation process of salary and pension payments in line with the state program to develop the national payment system. According to Rustamov, there are still problems in the cashless settlement system. More than 90% of people with plastic cards cash their money through cash machines.
"We are well aware of the reasons why the public and trade centers refuse to use POS-terminals," Rustamov said. Therefore we are thinking over additional measures to stimulate the development of the cashless settlement system so that the people will not stand in a long queue to withdraw money from the cash machines, he said.
There are some 6.041.000 POS-terminals and 1.34.000 cash machines in the country.
The Ministry of Taxes is holding talks with the banks to lower the high commissions for bank operations which do not suit entrepreneurs.
The control over cash registers and POS-terminals will be intensified in 2008 due to the increased powers of tax bodies.
According to representatives of tax bodies, it was impossible to complete the transfer to the cashless settlements in trade outlets and service industry in 2007 because of the problems in this regard. However, the Cabinet of Ministers decreed to complete this process by the end of 2007.
The drop in bank commissions also depends on the intense activity of population in using plastic cards as it can be beneficial for banks in case of rise in their turnover. At present, the bank commissions make up 1.5-2% of the turnover.
There will be additional 20,000 POS terminals in the country after they are introduced. This process is expected to end by the end of 2008.
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