CoD in cashless India

The recent move to ban the old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes has led to interesting and quick change in the field of e-commerce, where Cash on Delivery (CoD) till recent times has been a major mode of payment.

Acting swiftly, FreeCharge and Snapdeal rolled out the “Wallet on Delivery” (WoD) within 24 hours of the currency ban. In one week since launch, more than 100,000 Snapdeal deliveries have been done using FreeCharge’ Wallet on Delivery. This may well be the start of a new trend, which combines the “pay on delivery” expectation of some users and the “non-cash” payments preference of all e-commerce companies.

Online payments platform, Razorpay, also unveiled its eCOD product to help e-commerce companies accept payments at the time of delivery using payment methods other than cash. The product is aimed to replace ‘Cash on Delivery’ and provide relief to online merchants impacted by the phasing out of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

With eCOD, Razorpay offered its merchants the option of collecting payments from their customers, at the time of delivery, via non-cash payment modes like UPI or digital wallets like OlaMoney, Mobikwik, PayUmoney and Freecharge. Delivery person can also generate an instant payment link at the time of delivery that enables the customer to pay via credit/debit card or Netbanking.

Razorpay has partnered with Shadowfax, one of the largest logistics provider for local businesses and various online merchants like Licious and GoZefo to launch eCOD feature.

Upon choosing eCOD as a payment option while shopping online, customers pay at the time of delivery either by UPI, digital wallets or by requesting a payment link. The payment mechanism, will generate a PIN number without internet connectivity or wallet login, that the customer receives at the time of delivery, making the process as simple as paying cash.