The Centre will soon amend the Payments and Wages Act to make the cashless payment of salaries to all employees across sectors mandatory, Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said. Dattareya said potential amendments to the existing Act had been discussed by the Union Cabinet, and that the changes would soon be introduced in Parliament as well, The Hindu reported on Monday.

Noting that the amendments were in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a cashless economy, Dattatreya said the Centre will also ensure that poor and uneducated workers do not be exploited by middlemen. The amendments will allow the central and state governments to specify the industries where payments will be made via cheques or the digital transfer of money.

Employees whose wages do not exceed Rs 18,000 per month will be covered under the new rule, according to The Times of India. While the Centre will be responsible for all workers employed by the Railways, air transport services, mines and oilfields, state governments will identify the factory and industrial establishments and oversee the process in the sectors.

Following the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, the Centre has been pushing for a cashless economy by promoting digital payment services and introducing schemes to incentivise such payments. The prime minister said the step to discontinue the high-value currency was taken to fight black money, corruption and the circulation of counterfeit currency in the country.