In Hindsight, 2016 Demonetisation Move Was Short-Term Pain, But It Increased Digital Transactions: Pune Trader

Traders in Pune city of Maharashtra feel the temporary hardships caused by demonetisation in 2016 notwithstanding, the move led to a spike in digital transactions in the subsequent years. The Supreme Court in a 4:1 majority verdict has upheld the Centre government's 2016 decision to demonetize Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination notes, saying the decision-making process was not flawed. "Everybody, be it traders or common people, had to face hardships after the demonetization exercise was announced.

Everyone was in limbo about the fate of the scrapped notes they had. Banks were not immediately accepting cash from traders," recalled Mahendra Pitalia, a pharmaceuticals wholesaler based in Pune. He said the positive outcome of the note ban move is the spike in digital transactions by people. Pramod Shah, ex-secretary of Maharashtra Plastic Association, said the note ban was a good move in hindsight. "Though nothing came concrete out of that exercise it was a good move.

Those who had black money, they had to face the consequences, not everyone," he said. Shah said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had predicted a depreciation of 3 per cent in the country's economy but currently the Indian economy is stronger compared to other countries. "Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram had expressed apprehensions about digital payments. See today, the digital payments have increased in many folds," he said.

Milind Shalgar, who owns a readymade garments brand in Pune with the same name, also said the hardships were temporary. "After demonetisation, we could not accept cash and only card payments were accepted. For 10 -15 days, the business declined but later it came back on track. We traders knew it was a transitional period and we were mentally prepared because the entire exercise was huge. We knew it would require some time before things settle down," he added.

He also said the digital payment system was very well adopted in the subsequent years. "Today, we are so relieved that we do not have to handle the cash in our business like we used to do as more than 80 per cent of payments are done through online mode," he said. Fatehchand Ranka, president of the Federation of Traders Associations of Pune (FATP), however, differed.

He said the note ban decision was taken without consulting the RBI. "The economic condition continued to deteriorate as it (exercise) did not gain success," he said, adding that the move hit small businesses. "Several traders had to close their businesses. All businesses were affected but at least 15 per cent of small-time traders had to close their businesses," he said.

(PTI)