When the Indian government announced in July 2015 its grand ambition to digitise India, many of us let out a yawn. Here was one more promise from the government that was unachievable given the scale of illiteracy. The problems of an unreliable telecommunications backbone and clunky flip phones everywhere only increased our scepticism.
Seven years later, and ironically, because of the disruptions brought to life by Covid, India has pulled far ahead of even the grandest original dreams of Digital India. The metamorphosis was evident during my recent trip to rural Kota in coastal Karnataka.
The booking process for my family’s vacation home and all negotiations with the landlord took place on WhatsApp, including receiving videos of the vacation property. Once the beneficiary was authorised, I made payments through five equal installments auto-enabled through my bank’s NEFT service.
We drove from Bengaluru, and at every stop along the way for food, refreshments, or fuel, we never dealt in cash. Every merchant, even in villages on the winding roads of Agumbe Ghat, proudly boasted a UPI QR code with various digital payment brands prominently featured. When we had lunch at a busy restaurant, a loudspeaker behind the cashier announced that our payment went through instantly, saving us from asking him if he got the money.
Toll roads promoted electronic tags with a 50 per cent discount on tariffs. Topping up our tag balance was a breeze. We looked for the bank’s logo that had first issued the tag to the vehicle, keyed in the licence plate number into our payments app, and instantly transferred funds to the highway authority. In the middle of the night, at a rest stop.
At our destination, we later rented a second car from a private party that requested proof of our Aadhaar and a copy of our drivers licence. WhatsApp again came to the rescue. When an autorickshaw we hired for a local temple visit developed mechanical problems on a lonely rural road late at night, the driver called a friend to come and rescue us. The driver shared his Google Maps location so that the rescuer could find us in just a few minutes.
Back in Bengaluru, we repeatedly used Zepto, an app that promises delivery of a host of daily consumables within ten minutes. I tried Zepto on three occasions, and the delivery time was always less than seven minutes. There was no delivery charge if the total order was more than ₹100.
Several factors have helped India transform to this uber-level of convenience.
Four essential elements
Like cash, no payment method can succeed until it works flawlessly, and the network effect ensures that the level of trust improves as more people join in. The RBI’s stipulation of requiring digital payment users to have four essential elements — an Aadhaar card, a bank account, a debit card, and a mobile number registered to all the above — is mind bogglingly elegant but secure. The innovation here is, of course, all Jugaad. Knowing the average Indian’s rather careless approach to maintaining passwords and the country’s vast illiteracy where such password maintenance is unworkable, digital transactions rely heavily on the OTP. No meaningful transaction in India can occur without it.
Credit the breakneck competition among telecom providers for offering 4G data plans at the world’s cheapest rates. A 28-day prepaid plan with unlimited calling and 100 SMSs a day with 2 GB/day of connectivity costs about ₹250, affordable even for a street vendor.
Credit inexpensive but capable Android 10.0 devices — with 2GB RAM and 32GB Storage — available for under ₹5,000 for the ubiquitous adoption of smartphones even among rural populations.
Credit Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for continuing to offer WhatsApp as a world-class chat/voice/video app for free and with no commercials.
Credit the numerous entrepreneurs who have introduced hundreds of services that deliver various services to the Indian household. Food delivery apps bring that nostalgic restaurant’s menu home in less time than it takes to head out. Credit India’s young workforce that invariably enables each such service. These men are prepared to ride hundreds of kilometers every day on a two-wheeler to earn a decent wage and a life of dignity. The optional tip only helps.
The writer is Managing Director, Rao Advisors LLC, US