BHOPAL: Cashless economy has become the buzzword ever since Prime Minister Modi unveiled his ambitious albeit controversial agenda of ‘war against black money’. The Free Press Journal talked to some youngsters to know whether and for what they are using cashless transactions.
Anant Soni, 29, Interior designer
Yes, I use do make cashless transactions but I use cash too. Generally, I do online shopping and pay my restaurant bills using debit cards. It is easier because I don’t need to carry cash in my pocket. But at the same time, I think that complete cashless-ness is impossible to achieve not only in India but even in Western countries. As for India, a sizeable chunk of our population is uneducated and crores don’t have a bank account. And I find that even the well-educated ones are not very good at even routine banking transactions, let alone e-banking.
Chetan Pathak, 18, student
I do online shopping especially for those items which are cheaper online than in the market but I opt for cash on delivery as a precaution. I don’t want that I should make full payment and end up with a defective product.
I make the payment only after I have opened the package and checked the product. I don’t think we can totally depend on cashless transaction woh bhi in a developing country like India.
Preeti Tripathi, 24, trainee executive
I mostly prefer paying in cash. I use online mode only for mobile recharge and sometimes I buy things using debit card. I avoid e-banking due to lack of security. I think it is not possible to go cashless as most of the shops, restaurants, hospitals and chemists demand payment in cash even for big amounts because they don’t have card swipe machines. Unless the infrastructure is in place, we can’t hope to be cashless.
Girish Urkude, 31, artist
After demonetisation, I am doing more transactions sans cash. I am transferring money online and using plastic money for shopping. I even purchased a TV set from an online commerce site. We can be 50 percent cashless only. Cent per cent cashless ke liye bahut jyada development ki zaroorat hai.
Keshav Rout, 30, school teacher
Barely 20 per cent of my transactions are cashless. Mostly, I use debit card for shopping and for refueling my scooty. It is meaningless to talk about cashless economy because still most of the shops, especially the smaller ones, do not have POS machines and they don’t want to use theme either. Jab tak proper facility provide nahi hoti cashless transaction ki baat karna bemani hai…