essay on cashless transaction
Answers
Answer: A cashless economy means the liquidity in the system is exchanged between two parties through either plastic currency (ATM debit and credit cards) or through digital currency (online payments). With the advent of blockchain technology, bitcoins have given a whole new meaning for a cashless economy. The concept of bitcoin talks about a decentralized system of finance, but that is not the point of discussing in this particular essay on cashless India. Hence, let us come back to the crux of this essay on cashless India, which are the pros and cons of the digital payment system.
Advantages of Cashless India
Black money will be reduced: Black money is that money that you have earned but not accounted for which means this is that money which is hidden from paying taxes. And this black money is illegal and has the potential of reducing a government to bankruptcy. But the cashless economy will keep a check on black money because, unlike hiding physical cash, you can’t hide digital money, at least not yet. If the technology behind the digital economy is robust and well updated, then governments can track all transactions in the economy which helps in maintaining transparency and authenticity of income.
Transparency: Corruption in India exists right from Ministerial level to a watchman level, all because of the lack of transparency in our monetary system. Transparency is a big issue in an economy as big as India’s. Corruption scandals in India like CWG or 2g scams or Rafale Jet scams are broken out because of the lack of transparency in transactions. To be frank, a small essay on cashless India will not be enough to talk about all the corruption scandals in India since its independence. Corruptions like these can be reduced to a great extent if the cashless economy is achieved throughout because the biggest advantage of a cashless economy is that the authorities can track and the origin and the endpoint of a transaction easily.
Easy and simple: With so much technological revolutions happening around, it will be impossible to find someone without a smartphone in this 21st century. Almost every Indian has a smartphone. Hence the ease of transaction through fintech platforms such as Paytm, google pay or phonepe are easier than ever before. The hassles of carrying hard cash( with possible viruses on it) is eliminated. The government of India has produced platforms such as UPI (Unified Payments Interface) for hassle-free cashless transactions.
Disadvantages of Cashless India
Hacking and Online Theft: As technology is improving every day, so is online fraud and cheating incidents. Unless and until governments have robust and hackproof digital systems, it would be impossible for them to make the economy, especially a country like India with 135 crore population, completely cashless. Incidents of online thefts reported on news channels have made people think twice before making large transactions online.
Lack of Infrastructure: We are not just talking about government infrastructure but on an individual level as well. You need a gadget (a smartphone), data connectivity and electricity for charging the phones every day to be able to make online transactions often. But these privileges exist mostly in urban India and not in most parts of rural India. Before aiming for the dream of cashless India to come true, governments should take care of these problems.