Uzbekistan: Students Resent Introduction of Debit Cards

Students with state scholarships are the latest sector of the Uzbek population to be compelled to use debit cards under a highly unpopular government plan.

For many, the forced use of debit cards will mean buying food and sundries in supermarkets at prices they can ill afford, the opposition news site Uznews.net reported on November 6. "When buying stuff at the market at least I can bargain the price down, but there are no [ATM] terminals in the markets, and in a supermarket bargaining doesn't work, I'm not sure how I will survive on my money," one student said.

Another student said many young people resented being coerced. "The faculty warned us we would have problems if we didn't sign up. It wasn't said explicitly, but the message was clear that you could be expelled from university," the anonymous student was quoted as saying. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].