Note ban fuels digital payments

Much to the surprise of critics, sectors such as petroleum saw twofold jump in digital transactions

When India announced scrapping of old denomination of Rs 500 notes and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8, 2016, many said the move would cause disruption for months as cash transactions were prevalent. 

However, much to the surprise of critics, sectors such as petroleum saw a twofold jump in digital transactions, to 750 million from 250 million, in four months from December. 

This was mainly because of a 0.75 per cent discount on digital payments at retail outlets and Rs 5 discount per LPG cylinder on online payments. 

Shine Jacob takes a look at how the sector has fared in terms of digital