One Year for Demonetization, Cash Still the King

We are nearing the first anniversary of Demonetization on November 8th. But the country is still far away from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of making India a cash-less or less-cash economy says the experts.

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The adoption rate of online payments was high during the demonetization period, but it plateaued out as soon as cash became available in the system. The positive is that the online payments are on a rise and have not fallen back to the pre-demonetisation lows.

GST also came as a hindrance for online payments culture. After the cash flow in the system eased, small Kirana shops stopped transacting through online payment channels, primarily because they did not want to take a tax number or a Goods and Services Tax number.