The new Digital wave in India

Last year saw remarkable technological changes in the life of a common Indian man. Demonetisation was a major driving factor behind the sea of change. The digital wave is transforming the way Indian commerce functions, one step at a time.

Demonetization was the first step towards the big change. The move led to a huge cash crunch and long lines at ATMs. Thus forcing people to adopt digital payments. The trial seemed forced but pushed people to take up plastic money.

To promote demonetization, electronic wallets and government-initiated payment apps also surfaced. The most prominent of them were Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) and Google’s Tez. But the leader of the race was PayTM, which took a boom. Within 12 days of demonetization, the app witnessed over 7 million transactions worth INR 120 crore a day. In December, it was already four months ahead of its target and crossed $5 billion GMV sales.

The application of ATM withdrawal charges and penalties on cash transactions has pushed the price of cash in India. Therefore, people have shifted their loyalties to card payments and internet banking.

Apart from demonetization, the government also launched several policies which pushed people towards digital. The Jan Dhan programme, which allows people to open a zero balance account, has reached more than 90 percent of the households.

The Make in India initiative has also helped various home-grown startups to flourish. The GDP from manufacturing in India reached an all-time high of INR 4,90,833 crore in the first quarter of 2016-17. The government initiative had a major part to play in it.