A Study Cashless Transaction of Small Retailing Sector: A Case Study on Haridwar District

I. INTRODUCTION

On 8 November 2016 the Modi government awoke the entire nation from the dream of black money by demonetization, or banned of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 which were the two highest demonetization notes from circulation in the economy(Mohan & Ray, 2019). The main motive behind such a step was to exploit corruption and black money in the monetary system of our country. The RBI and the Government of India are attempting various efforts to minimize the use of physical cash in the economy by promoting digital payment devices or modes including prepaid instruments and cards(Chakraborty & Prashad, 2020; Mohan & Ray, 2019). The main motive of the RBI behind the implementation of such an effort is to achieve the objective of a 'less cash' society. Both the terms 'cashless' and 'less cash' indicate the same thing of minimizing cash transactions and settlements rather than doing transactions digitally(Garg & Panchal, 2017a).

A cashless transaction economy does not mean a shortage or scarcity of cash rather it indicates a culture of people settling transactions digitally. In a modern economy, money moves electronically and hence the spread of digital payment systems along with the expansion of infrastructure facilities is needed to achieve the goal. A cashless transaction is one in which goods and services are exchanged without the use of currency either through electronic transfer or through the use of a check(Anand & Thillairajan, 2017) Looking back in time, the impact of cashless payment on an individual may be seen. The Diffusion of Innovation Theory can be used to examine the economy (DOI). The idea was originally presented in 1962 when he discussed how invention spreads over time to members of a social system (Rogers, 1995). The DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Interaction between individuals causes the adoption of a new idea or invention using interpersonal networks. The spread of cashless transactions is referred to as diffusion in this context. Where consumers are looking for payment and cheque. Security checks, security difficulties, non-IT knowledgeable users, and phishing emails are just a few of the drawbacks of adopting cashless payment. Payments are made without using currency. Money is lost, and personal information is compromised. Consumers' trust in making electronic payments is eroding. There isn't any convincing proof of how the use of cashless payment may affect an organization's economics. Payments made without cash may have a positive impact on economic activity(Kumar, 2020).

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

A preliminary survey has been carried out on several issues associated with the topic of research. As the work is based on cashless transactions and the small retailing sector, a brief survey has been undertaken in this regard and the books consulted for this purpose are as follows-

Borhan Omar Ahmad Al-Dalaien in the research paper entitled "Cashless Economy in India: Challenges" published in the Asian Journal of Applied Science and Technology (AJAST), 2017 examined that a cashless economy is an economic system in which there is little or very low cash flow in society and goods and services are bought and paid through electronic media. There are many benefits of the cashless economy like faster transactions, increased sales, prompt settlement of transactions, convenience and lower risk, transparency and accountability, and reduced maintenance costs. Despite many benefits, there are several challenges before the cashless policy in India such as an inadequate number of ATMs, digital illiteracy, lack of internet facilities, few banks in villages, costly swipe machines, etc. The findings revealed that there are no significant benefits of a cashless economy to the general public.

(Garg & Panchal, 2017) the research paper entitled "Study on Introduction of Cashless Economy in India 2016: Benefits and Challenges" published in the IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM), 2017 examined that many people had positive opinions about cashless transactions and the usefulness of cashless economy as it helps to fight against terrorism, corruption, money laundering but one major problem in the working of cashless economy in India is cybercrimes and illegal access to primary data. Therefore, it's important to strengthen Internet Security to protect against online fraud. A huge number of the population in India is still below the literacy rate living in rural areas. For smooth implementation of the cashless system in India, the following measures are recommended Government has to bring transparency and efficiency to the e-payment system, strategies used by the government and Reserve Bank of India to motivate cashless transactions by licensing payment banks, promoting mobile wallets and withdrawing service charge on cards and digital payments. A financial literacy campaign should be conducted by the government continuously to make the population aware of the advantages of electronic payments.

(Singhraul & Garwal, 2018) in the research paper entitled "Cashless Economy- Challenges and Opportunities in India" published in the Pacific Business Review International, 2018 examined that the major findings of the study show that India in terms of using digital payment methods is still very poor in comparison to other developed countries in the world. As many countries are already turned up with their electronic payment system, India is in its beginning stage and most of all population is mainly dependent on paper-based transactions because of the unavailability of proper internet connectivity, lack of awareness and knowledge of financial transactions, charges on card payments and un operational bank accounts.

(Hasan et al., 2020) researched India's Retailing Challenges. He did it for the study's sake. He has conducted a survey of 1,948 retail outlets in 41 major Indian cities. The sample is made from Consumer durable stores (26%) and conventional or food shops (64%) made up the majority of the sample%), as well as modern-format retailers (10 percent). He has utilized 20 key roadblocks that he has encountered by Indian retailers. Electricity issues, access to financing, corruption, land issues, tax issues, informality, crime and disorder, acquiring permits, tax administration, pricing controls, transportation, court functioning, skill shortages, policy uncertainty, store hour limitations, Customs, Telecom, Labor laws, Macro instability, and FDI limitations were among them. Inadequate power supply, access to finance, corruption, tax rates, and land-related issues were found to be the most significant barriers to future expansion in the retail business.

Objective of the study

The objective of the study is as follows-

1. To study the scope and extent of using e- e-payment mechanism.

2. To study the benefits derived by the Small Retail Sector out of the e-payment system.

3. To analyze the problems faced by the Small Retailers while using cashless transactions.

III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The study is descriptive and consists of both primary and secondary data to find the objectives. The study area was Haridwar which is also known as "The Gateway to the Gods" is a beautiful city in the heart of Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand is famous for its stunning natural beauty and divine Hindu tourism. Due to the increased number of tourists in Haridwar, the significance of digital payment also increases. The present study focuses on the cashless transactions of the small retail sector of Haridwar, Hari ki Pauri, Bhagwanpur, and Roorkee areas. The study has a limited due to limited time constraints and funding. A 100 number of people were surveyed using a questionnaire to collect the necessary primary data for the study. The study used mixed questionaries consisting of dichotomous and close-ended structure questionnaires, data was collected from respondents using a non-probability sampling technique. The measurement of the items was done with the help of a four-scale Likert scale.

IV. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Descriptive Study: The first part of the questionnaire consists of various descriptive questions like gender, Marital status, age, etc. The interpretation is as follows-

Q1: Gender-Wise Classification of the Retailers.

Table 1:

Interpretation: The above table no 1 illustrates that there are a total of 45 respondents of which 35 are male and 10 are female. It also shows the percentage of males as 77.8% and females as 22.2%.

Q2: Status of the Retailer's Marital Status

Table 2:

Interpretation: Table No. 2 illustrates that there are 45 respondents of which 40 are married and 5 are unmarried. It also shows that 88.8% are married and 11.2% are unmarried.

Q3: Educational Qualification

Table 3:

Interpretation: Table No. 3 depicts that there are 45 respondents in which respondents are divided into three categories Pass, Pass, and Graduation Pass and above. It also shows the percentage of the Pass as , the Pass as , and the Graduation Pass and above as .

Q4: Usage of Cashless Transaction.

Table 4:

Interpretation: Table No. 4 depicts the number of respondents using e-payment transactions in their retail stores. It is seen that the respondents using e-payment transactions are more in number i.e. compared to the respondents who are who don't use e-payment while transacting. The policy of cashless transactions of the government is not completely successful, hence more awareness and advertisement are required.

Q5: Reasons for non-acceptance of cashless payments.

Table 5:

Interpretation: Table No. 5 depicts that While a majority of retailers have welcomed cashless payments, there are still some issues in going towards 100% adoption. There were 15 respondents who were yet not offering cashless payment options to their customers. The major reasons for non-acceptance of cashless transactions are observed to be the lack of smartphones, lack of trust, lack of knowledge, and other specified reasons which are not disclosed at the time of questioning. The pie-chart clearly depicts that of lack of smartphones is the main reason with a majority of 33.3%, while there is a trust issue with 26.7% and lack of adequate knowledge about the use of cashless also bears another reason for not using this facility which holds 20% of the above diagram. Again another 20% of those who do not prefer cashless transactions refer to other reasons for not using this facility.

Q6: How often do they use the e-payment method? Table 6:

Interpretation: Table No. 6 depicts the Small Retail Sector using E-payment daily in their own transactions. E-payment has become a basic need of their daily activities. 10% of the respondents use credit cards daily while the other 10% of respondents use a debit card and the remaining 80% use mobile payment.

Q7: Likings of the E-payment among the five modes of e-payment system.

Table 7:

Interpretation: Table No. 7 depicts the number of respondents who like the different modes of E-payment. The Small retail sector likes mobile payments more because the customers are more convenient to carry their mobile rather than cash and smart cards because of losing them in the markets. The diagram clearly shows the number of retailers like mobile payment is 66.7%, while credit card stands at second place with 22.2% and debit card at 11.1%. The charts also depict that the retailers are not more comfortable with the E- cheques and E- wallets in the Haridwar District.

Q8: Reasons for choosing E- payment.

Table 8: Source: Primary data (N=100)

Interpretation: The above Table No 8 above illustrates the number of Small retail sectors that choose cashless transactions instead of paper transactions because of the following reasons convenience, safety and security, low service tax, and ease of maintaining the banking transactions. The cashless transaction also helps retailers from the fear of theft and robbery because now all the hard-earned profits are directly transferred to the bank rather than the traditional cash box. The charts depict retailers choose cashless transactions because it is safe and secure with a respondent of 40% while some feel it is helpful in low service tax with a respondent of 23.3% while others feel it is convenient with a respondent of 20% and other feel it helps in maintaining banking transactions with a respondent of 16.7%

Q9: The satisfaction of the e-payment.

Table 9:

Interpretation: Table 9 illustrates the number of Small Retailing Sectors that are satisfied with the e-payment transaction. The table depicts the numbers of respondents who are satisfied with the e-payment transactions with 83.3% and strongly satisfied with 16.7%.

Q10: Benefits derived by the respondents after using e-payment.

Table 9:

Interpretation: Table 10 illustrates the benefits derived by the Small Retailers Store through cashless payments. When compared to traditional payment methods such as cash or cheque, e-payment is extremely convenient. Customers don't have to wait in line for their turn to transact since they may pay for goods or services online at any time of day or night, from anywhere in the globe. They also don't have to wait for a cheque to clear the bank before getting the money they need to purchase. E-payment also removes the security issues associated with dealing with cash. The pie-chart depicts cashless economy helps access fewer fraud cases with 66.7% while it saves the time of the retailers by 13.3% and generates more profit for 10% while the other 10% feel it is safe and secure.

Q 11: The increase of sales after e-payment. Table 11: Source: Primary data (N=100)

Interpretation: Table 11 illustrates that e-payment has boosted the sales of Small Retailers. The number of individuals making cash payments is dropping as internet banking and shopping grow more popular. According to Bankrate report more than two-thirds of customers carry less than $50 in cash daily, indicating that electronic payments are becoming the preferred method of payment. As a result, e-payment allows firms to sell to clients who choose to pay online, giving them a competitive edge over companies that solely accept traditional payment methods. The pie- diagram shows that respondents strongly agree with 56.7% and 43.3% of respondents agree with the increase in the profitability of the business.

V. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Electronic payment is a subset of an e-commerce transaction that includes electronic payment for the purchase and sale of products and services via the internet. Although most people associate electronic payments with online purchases, there are many other types of electronic payments. As technology advances, the number of devices and mechanisms for transacting electronically expands, while the ratio of cash and check transactions decreases. In other words, an electronic payment system is required to compensate for information on goods and services provided over the Internet, such as access to copyrighted materials, database searches, or system resource consumption, as well as to provide a convenient method of payment for external goods and services, such as merchandise and services provided outside the internet. It aids in the automation of sales operations, increases the number of possible customers, and may minimize the quantity of paperwork. Based on the survey findings we can conclude that the Small Retail Sectors are the basic ingredients of the Cashless Economy cuisines. They are the basic root from where every day we get our daily needs from bread-butter to desserts for dinner. So, it will be a good step if we start cashless transactions from our neighboring grocery stores which have been serving us for many years. It is seen that network issues were the main hurdles for e-payment services so there is a recommendation to the telecom industries that they need to improve their services to smooth the flow of e-payment transactions. One more piece of advice is more campaign and advertisements is required to aware our local small retail stores and as a responsible customer we should demand e-payment transactions.