Is India ready to go cashless?

Is India ready to go cashless?

Is India ready to go cashless?

Demonetization not only created a huge expectation to scoop out black money and end corruption but also sowed the seed of what may get to be called a new era - the cashless India movement. Amid all the protests and praises, Modi government has definitely paved way for India to accept the plastic way of payment.

It lies in our hands on how we take it. Either we take it positively and welcome digitalization of money in every walk of life and help the needy with teaching them on how to carry the tasks digitally or join hands with the protestors on how it is affecting the poor and cry to bring the changes to an immediate halt.

Yes

1. Using debit/credit/RuPay cards: A few days of cash distress and it was witnessed that many people who hadn’t used their debit/credit ever before made purchases at PoS and other ways. It is clear enough that people will use cards for transactions if they have it. Let’s accept it - using these cards for shopping and other purposes is way easier than cash withdrawal from ATMs.

2. Payment banks: Airtel Payment Bank has made its debut in Rajasthan and is soon expected to be opening up centers in every city/town/village of India. Making payments and receiving them will not just be easier for educated people but also for those who are not very well versed with digitalized processes. It will only be a matter of time when people become adapted to this system of transactions.

3. PayTm: Fruits and vegetables vendors, household help, drivers, watchmen etc. in cities have adapted to getting paid via Paytm. It is simpler and one is immediately informed of the transaction made in their account. Switching over wasn’t difficult after all. With a little help to these people around us, we can make it possible for them to stay in tune with a cashless society.

4. Revealing true income: Going cashless would bring in the much needed transparency. Merchants will have to reveal their true income and pay taxes accordingly. This would eventually be beneficial for the development of our nation. We are short of funds when it comes to catering to the needs of farmers and Indian railways. It is about high time India should take a stand against the hindrances in the way of development.

5. Convenient PoS machines: Earlier the PoS machines were scaring small merchants with their bulky size and cost of payment but now they are not just affordable and smaller but also come with lower monthly charges. They can now run smoothly on low speed internet connections which were also one of the problems earlier.

No

1. Cyber threats: It was only recently that about 30 lakh debit cards were said to be affected by security hacks and leaked PIN code at ATMs. People were asked to have their PIN changed. Some were also issued new cards. People were panicky everywhere with the mere thought of losing their hard earned money. Even though most of them were able to recover their money back after months, it made cyber threats with digitalized transactions even more evident.

2. Limited Internet Access: Not everyone has a 4G smartphone supporting Reliance’s free JIO net to console their transactions on high speed internet. Once the offer period is over, those who have availed this service will also have to bear the high internet charges to use high speed internet. It is not very difficult to see that vendors and masonry workers will not be able to afford data packs to support cashless transactions.

3. Loopholes for stealing: The non tech-savvy will be vulnerable even if they start using the easy to pay and transfer services being offered by PayTm, Digital wallets, Airtel Money etc. These people will not be very aware of logging out and not saving their passwords here and there. The crook-minded can easily take advantage of their innocence and transfer funds from their smartphones. A larger part of our nation is uneducated. Going cashless is only possible when everyone is comfortable with e-transactions.

4. Lack of infrastructure: Not enough charging points in public places are a big hindrance for a cashless society. Even in railway stations and trains, people face inconvenience of charging phones. What will people do when they are on the go and their phone battery decides to die? Our banks too are not ready to handle bulk e-transactions.

There are definite benefits of going cashless and government is doing all that it can to make cashless transactions easy for the poor and uneducated. However, the inconveniences though less in number than before, are more prevalent. These are some ultimate hindrances and without doing away with them, it will be difficult to go absolutely cashless
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    Discussion

  • RE: Is India ready to go cashless? -Cashless society - group discussion (05/03/18)
  • Absolute cashless is not possible but we have taken a big stride to become a cashless society. Demonetization hasn't bestowed much, couldn't scoop out black money as expected, but cash crunch taught many the usage of digital payment and ease of making payment. It definitely sow the seed of what we call the beginning of digital age. Online payment is the only way to curb black money and catch income tax violator, leading to make system seamless and transparent. Cash hoarding will be stemmed, with more tax recovery government would invest more to improve infrastructure. We are in the digital world, a sluggish stride would leave us behind. More efforts paving us to use more of plastic money should be taken, making system fully secured and luring through incentives would go a long to promote it.
  • RE: Is India ready to go cashless? -maha (01/05/17)
  • cashless economy is not possible for a country like india which is still in the shadow of illiteracy.there are people who does not know about credit and debit cards.they work for the whole day to get their wages in their hands with which they have to satisfy their daily needs.our people cannot get adapt to the changes immediately.our infrastructure for online transaction is very poor.the government should provide training to illiterate people how to do transaction.
  • RE: Is India ready to go cashless? -Puneet Agrawal (01/04/17)
  • Well,every coin has two sides.So to give conclusion abt whether India is ready to go cashless or not so early will not justify the topic completely.Since these decisions are not made in one day and neither their effects so early will justify it therefore for a better conclusion let us give it some more time.But as of now ,I think India is surely on its way to become cashless very soon.Government is doing every possible thing it can do to make India a developed country by making it cashless."Guys we have to learn how to accept a short term pain for a long term gain".
  • RE: Is India ready to go cashless? -Gracy (12/08/16)
  • India being tech-savvy nation and a giant in IT field in world market, can easily expedite our habit to cashless transactions. We have more mobiles than total population and sale of smart phones are surging in manifold. Many of us are well verge of it and can sail through it at the drop of the hat. It's only culture and necessity that can drive us faster to earn such status. The demonetization has laid red carpet for us to leap for cashless transactions.
  • RE: Is India ready to go cashless? -Jaya Priyadarshini (12/08/16)
  • In my opinion, for a while as he/she can live without mobile but without money it's not possible. So cannot say this. But ya sure there is a possibility or surety of changes in future it will be. But it will take time and in parallel we need both of the facility to improve our system better. The implementation of this should be slowly slowly.
  • RE: Is India ready to go cashless? -Sulabh Srivastava (12/07/16)
  • according to my point of view , India is ready for cashless because after demonitization many people are using his payment card and it indicates that people is ready for cashless and we are talking about for villagers then we can se the example of mobile phone , which come in India in last 20th century but after when the mobile become cheap and call rate very low after 2008 then every one buy the mobile either villagers or others even they are not much educated but can call and other requirement as his needs..in this the all people can use cashless transaction.
  • RE: Is India ready to go cashless? -Jaya Priyadarshini (12/06/16)
  • Its not put on. It is Paytm and folding is Fooding.
  • RE: Is India ready to go cashless? -Jaya Priyadarshini (12/06/16)
  • It sounds soothing and seems good that we are ready to go cashless. But the fact is this that India is a country where half of the population lives in villages. Still in India there are many people who are not aware of this these things like What is debit card, what is credit card or what is put-on not even the Internet. Then how we can say this that India is ready to go cashless. After demonetization there are many people who committed suicide. Reason is this that they don't have cash money to pay for their folding items also.So the concept is really good, but for them only who are well to do. The people who are not, how will they survive.
  • RE: Is India ready to go cashless? -Gaurav Singh (12/02/16)
  • Yes, india is ready to go cashless. After demonetization 65% people are using there debit card its indicate that we were ready to go cashless there are many apps are launched in the market like Paytm Freecharge etc every banks have their own banking sites for the convenience of the customer the cashless India.