Is India ready to be a Cashless Economy? ~ Group Discussion Ideas

Table of Contents

In Favor :-

Long before demonetizing 500 & 1000 rupee notes, Indian government is trying to increase cashless transactions through Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, Jan Dhan accounts etc.
From the moment higher denomination notes are demonetized, cashless transactions have increased at a rapid rate.
Though India has a huge proportion of digital illiteracy, using debit card does not require much digital literacy.
Many state governments are working hard to spread the awareness of digital transactions.
Indian Government rolled out incentives for going digital in financial transactions. It introduced daily and weekly lucky draws to encourage digital transactions.

Against :-

Till the moment 500 & 1000 rupee notes are demonetized, cash transactions constituted 85% among all the financial transactions in India.
Even after the demonetization move, cash transactions are still the king.
India has a huge population of digital illiterates. It’ll take a lot of time to transform everyone into digital literates.
No country is a fully cashless economy yet. India is still a developing country, and needs a lot time to transform itself into cashless economy.
Though no. of accounts have increased drastically after the demonetization move, once the scarcity of new notes is reduced, there is no guarantee that everyone will use that bank accounts.
With the recent hack of 32 lakh Rupay & Visa debit cards, there is a doubt in cyber security of Indian Banking. Before going for completely cashless economy, India needs to strengthen its cyber security first.

Facts :-

‘Sweden’ is closest to achieving cashless society. Cash transactions in Sweden constitutes to only 3%.
M-Pesa created a revolution in ‘Kenya’. The usage of M-Pesa is so high that even salaries are credited through it. Cash transactions decreased drastically in Kenya.
South Korea gives tax incentives for cashless transactions, and could increase the share of non-cash transactions.

Also Read : Impact of COVID-19 on Indian economy

Conclusion :-

Though cashless transactions have increased these days, right now India cannot completely become a cashless economy considering its high proportion of digital illiteracy and cash transactions. But Indian Government is working towards increasing the share of cashless transactions, which is a good thing for any economy.

Afterwords :- What is your opinion on this topic? Express your thoughts in the comment section below.