India towards cashless economy: An analysis

Digitalization is rapidly growing worldwide and has changed the business landscape. Markets are in a transition phase, from grocery stores, hyper markets to electronic markets and use of plastic cards, online shopping and electronic payments etc. The RBI and the Government are making several efforts to reduce the use of cash in the economy by promoting the digital/payment devices including prepaid instruments and cards. Digital transactions bring in better transparency, scalability and accountability. Demonetization in the last decade has witnessed a sharp raise of cashless transactions. In coordination with other institutions, government has been moving from cash-based to a cashless system in order to increase efficiency which leads to the idea of a futuristic, cashless society. On this backdrop, the present study has been undertaken to analyze the implications of the cashless transactions for the sustainable development of the economy not only in India, but also in the entire globe.