Crunch makes buyers take e-way to pay

KOLKATA: Mohammed Shabbir ate chicken biryani for lunch on Wednesday, something that he often does. But he also did something that he doesn't do: pay for it with his digital wallet. But desperate times call for desperate measures.
The crunch in ready cash following the demonitisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes forced him -and many others -to use digital wallets.
“Three of us ate and the bill was less than Rs 400, but I opted for my digital wallet to pay because I wanted to hold on to the 100-rupee notes that I have for the next few days. It may help me meet some unforeseen expenses,“ said Shabbir, a technical associate at an IT company .
A day after the government demonitised 1000-rupee and 500-rupee notes, digital -or e -wallets gained currency for payment of all sorts of bills, from groceries to taxi fares.
Meera Agarwal used e-wallet to pay for even groceries in her neighbourhood convenience store at Lake Town. “The bill was in excess of Rs 1,500.Thankfully , I had enough balance in my digital wallet to pay the bill. I will return home and replenish my account,“ the homemaker said.
Taxi aggregators had a field day , as commuters with digital wallet facilities in their smartphones preferred them over traditional yellow cabs.And, for a change, drivers of yellow cabs were not demanding exorbitant fares.
College student Mayank Shah explained why. “If I take a yellow cab, I will have to pay in cash. I took an app cab and opted to pay through my digital wallet account,“ said the second-year student. Several commuters noticed surge pricing, but it could not be verified if it was more or less than other weekdays.