Picture used for representative purpose only
Despite the fact that the use of electronic payments is countering the cash crunch following demonetisation, many vendors are frustrated with issues in their usage.
These include slow Internet speeds, time taken to complete a transaction and sometimes malfunctioning of card swipe machines. A customer who is waiting for his turn feels frustrated with the delay and often indulges in an altercation with the shopkeeper.
On December 15, a wine shop in V3S Mall near Nirman Vihar Metro station witnessed something similar. At 9.47 pm, the card swipe machine malfunctioned and stopped accepting debit cards. As liquor shops in Delhi are allowed to stay open only till 10 pm, those standing in the queue soon became unruly. Subsequently the liquor seller and the customers got into a quarrel.
To understand how useful shopkeepers and other vendors find e-payments, City Spidey spoke to a couple of shopkeepers who are using Paytm. They said that the process takes much longer than hard cash.
Pradeep Kumar, a fruit vendor in Laxmi Nagar, said, “I began using Paytm three or four days after demonetisation. Suppose a customer buys 1 kg of apple, I have to wait for at least 20 minutes for an SMS confirmation. I have to keep the others waiting until then.”
Vendors also said that when the app malfunctions in the middle of a transaction, they end up not only losing their customers but sometimes also have to bear financial losses due to incomplete payments.
“Errors during a transaction leaves us clueless and we have to make several attempts to complete it. But the problem is — who is going to wait for all this. The customer often leaves empty-handed,” said Rubit Kausik, a vegetable vendor Samachar Market in Mayur Vihar Phase 1 Extension.
