{"id":4941,"date":"2017-03-17T09:39:22","date_gmt":"2017-03-17T04:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teekhapan.wordpress.com\/?p=4941"},"modified":"2017-03-17T09:39:22","modified_gmt":"2017-03-17T04:09:22","slug":"as-digital-transactions-fall-indians-are-going-back-to-cash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vivekkaul.com\/2017\/03\/17\/as-digital-transactions-fall-indians-are-going-back-to-cash\/","title":{"rendered":"As Digital Transactions Fall, Indians Are Going Back to Cash"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n Sometime last week I had asked the question, whether Indians were going back to using cash<\/a>. And I had offered some evidence regarding the same. I had concluded by saying that “there is not enough data to say that Indians have totally gone back to cash, but the data that is available does suggest that they are moving towards it”<\/em>.<\/p>\n In this piece, I will look at the same question by using a different set of data. On March 10, 2017, the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) released a document titled Macroeconomic Impact of Demonetisation- A Preliminary Assessment<\/em>.<\/p>\n One of the things that the RBI document discusses is the usage of different digital modes of payment in the aftermath of demonetisation<\/a>. As the RBI document points out: “After the announcement of demonetisation, digital activity levels were low in the initial weeks as people were busy depositing\/exchanging SBNs (specified bank note). However, in December 2016, digital payment activity increased alongside progressive remonetisation.<\/em>”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How does the data look? Let’s first take a look at Table 1, which has the total number of digital transactions for various modes of payment.<\/p>\n Table 1<\/p>\n