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.
Financial Inclusion is part of a news initiative by The Wall Street Journal to shed light on the issues faced by about two billion people world-wide who live without access to banking, lending, credit and other basic financial services. Read other stories in the series here. Go here for information on The Wall Street Journal’s Financial Inclusion Challenge 2017.
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