The decision of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do away with large-denomination notes in November led to a temporary cash shortage that slowed the economy and forced people to queue at banks to get money.
New Delhi touted its move as an opportunity to make India’s economy less dependent on cash, saying it will help it shrink the black economy and curtail tax evasion.
But while e-payment companies are seeing their business boom in cities, the switch to plastic money is proving more difficult in rural India.
As seen in the video above, in places like Kukar Khera in the northern state of Rajasthan, few villagers are connected to the internet, and even fewer are able to make transactions.
The consequence: poor people who are unable to get online suffer financial exclusion, exacerbating their problems.
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