On Way Towards a Cashless Economy: Challenges and Opportunities

On the night of November Eighth, 2016 in a television address to the nation, the Hon. Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi made an announcement, informing the people that a policy has been enacted by the Government of India of demonetizing Rs 500 and Rs 1000 bank notes and thereby ceasing the usage of all ₹ 500 and ₹ 1,000 banknotes as legal tender in India post midnight. The drastic measure initiated by the government took the nation by surprise and was claimed by the government as a move to curb the menace of ‘black money' plaguing the Indian economy. Although initially, it created a lot of hardships for the common man in form of endless lines in front of ATMs all over the country, however, it has also created opportunities towards making a transition towards a ‘Cashless Economy'which is strongly being advocated and pushed by the government at all levels. As the economy makes the transition from being “cash dri- ven”to “digitally driven”, new opportunities galore both for the nation and for the young and talented. However, the path towards a truly cashless economy faces a lot of challenges as a large part of the population continues to remain outside the banking net and is not in a position to reduce its dependence on cash. Consequently the government needs to take measures both at the policy level as well as at the grassroots to make India leap towards becoming a truly cashless econ- omy.