Digital payment mascots put faith back in cash

2 MONTHS AFTER PM GAVE OUT REWARDS FOR GOING CASHLESS, SOME AWARDEES RAISE CONCERNS OVER THE INITIATIVE

The Central government gave out ₹53 crore in cash awards – ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹1 lakh — to about 10 lakh people picked through lottery since December 25 for going cashless in their daily business.

The awardees, the government said, had encouraging tales to tell about how digital payments changed their lives for the better.

Launched by the National Institution for Transforming India (Niti) Aayog, the lottery picks people daily for an award of ₹1,000 each and a bumper prize of ₹1 lakh every week. The Aayog’s chief executive officer, Amitabh Kant, said the award was encouraging people to go cashless and wanted people to emulate the awardees by adopting digital methods of transacting.

Going cashless is the new mantra of the government, though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had initially projected his demonetisation measure as a drive against black money.

HT reporters met several of the awardees to learn about their experiences with a cashless economy. Though some painted a rosy picture, not all shared the optimism. Some have fallen back on cash transactions.

In UP, for instance, Ram Roop Giri from Lakhimpuri Kheri says 80% of his transactions are in cash.

“Even shops that have POS machines prefer cash. If I tell them I do not have cash, they give goods on credit and wait for up to a week for cash payment,” he said.

In Tamil Nadu, Jayanthi SF won ₹1 lakh. “I am fortunate to be able to use things like a debit card... what of people who don’t have access to those methods?” she said.

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