HYDERABAD: Cashless economy, did you say? One among the several roadblocks on the way to such an economy is the lack of strong internet connectivity for Point of Sale (PoS) machines or the lack of machines itself.
Imagine a situation wherein after a sumptuous meal at a restaurant, the owner tells you the dreaded words: Server is down. Yes, that can happen.
If the ‘server down’ is not dreadful enough, spare a thought about the hand-held machine flashing a ‘card error’ message after a certain shopping spree or family dinner.
After a month of most unprecedented implementation of the Centre’s demonetisation scheme, no cash-in-hand certainly remains an issue while lack of a tech-support system for use of plastic money appears to be an equally distressing fact.
Sample this: a private employee Sunil Kumar had planned a movie at PVR Central. No cash in hand was not a problem as the 30-year-old planned to pay by card. However, when he reached the counter after a long wait in queue, he was told: server is down. And if this scenario unfolds within the limits of the state capital, move a few kilometres towards the outskirts and one can find things getting complicated.
Daily wagers living opposite the dump yard at Jawahar Nagar have not seen a big note post demonetisation. Their idea of plastic is limited only to the polythene bags they pick from garbage heaps. “What is plastic money,” they grin while asking.
Coming back to the city, try purchasing a bottle of water from a department store and pay through plastic money (debit/credit card). Instead of the bottle, these are the probable replies you might get: “We accept cards only on a purchase of or above `100 or the server is down.” Reasons differ but the one thing that remains same is people ending up spending more than what they need.
A petrol pump near CM Camp Office in Begumpet maintains that only if one buys petrol for `100 will they swipe the card. When asked for a reason, a staffer said, “We are charged `2 for every transaction.” Grand Hotel in Abids is a step ahead. The restaurant accepts cards only if the bill is `250 or above. A why met with no specific reasons.
Similarly, the owner of a mini supermarket in BS Maktha, Begumpet, said: As per our rule, transactions below `100 are to be done in cash.
However, things are different at the supermarkets in the city. Spar Supermarket in Begumpet readily accepts cards for a purchase as low as `22. But the catch here is how many of us would be ready to surpass a few layer of security checks to enter a supermarket and buy a bottle of water?