HYDERABAD: Even as people are being prompted to shift to digital modes of transaction and do away with use of liquid cash, several persons are found going back to use of cash doing away with digital money.
For instance, Mohammad Siddique, in his early forties, has stopped using PayTm at his poultry shop at Begumpet. Reason: PayTm does not allow him to transfer more than Rs 25,000 from his PayTm wallet to his bank account. Rest of the money he had amassed will remain in his e-wallet.
“I am now using my PayTm wallet for my needs at home. What else can I do with my money now stuck with PayTm,” said Siddique.
He became a PayTm merchant a week after the service was launched on November 23. The transaction limit set by PayTm is subject to changes based on notifications or guidelines issued by Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
On November 22, RBI came out with - “Special Measures to incentivise Electronic Payments” that had expanded the transfer limit through Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs), such as PayTm, to merchants’ bank accounts. The RBI had increased the limit from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000.
Twenty nine days after the RBI notification, PayTm increased the amount that can be accepted through their platform on Tuesday.
“We are not accepting PayTm at our store anymore,” said Mohammad Yacoob, owner of Green Mini mart supermarket, to a visibly irritated Smitha K, an IT employee. The supermarket like many other stores in the city would only accept debit cards if purchases are made above Rs 100.
The supermarket had started accepting payments through PayTm from December 13. People who wanted to purchase items below Rs 100 used to rely on PayTm, he added. The shopowner says its easier for them to rely on Point of Sales (PoS) machines than on PayTm.
“With PoS, the money goes directly to our bank account. We can pay our vendors through our bank account using online payments or through cheques,” said Yacoob.
Keeping the money in PayTm wallet is useless as we cant make payments to our vendors through the PayTm application. The transfer limit does not help us either, he added.
A self-declared merchant can accept payments upto Rs 50,000 in a month. Wallet balance of a self-declared merchant should not exceed Rs 20,000 post which, the amount is settled directly to the merchant’s bank account.