Accessibility, affordability and acceptability are the major challenges for Digital India

India, ranks 6th in the world when it comes to being the most economical country to own a mobile phone. The Indian mobile industry is slowly migrating to new mobile broadband networks, services and devices, thereby becoming a key enabler to ‘Digital India’ initiative aimed at providing broadband connectivity across the country. 

With more than 1 billion mobile subscribers, mobile phones are eventually becoming an indispensable requirement for Indians. From online shopping to making payments, everything can now be achieved with the help of a mobile phone. The mobile industry accounts for 6.1 per cent of India’s GDP and hence plays a vital role in boosting the Digital India program.

Digital payment platform contribution to Digital India

The Indian payment industry has evolved more positively to digital transactions over the last few years and has recorded a phenomenal growth of 40 per cent during this period. From debit and credit cards, payments have now moved to net banking and mobile wallets. Digital payments platforms provide a smooth and a secure experience to users for their payment needs. Consumers are now making more use of mobile wallets and banking apps as digital payment platforms and their friendly user interface have undoubtedly given a much-needed boost to the mobile payment industry. 

Obstacles that need to be tackled on mobile phone and mobile services  to meet the objectives of Digital India

Accessibility, affordability and acceptability are the major challenges for Digital India. Accessibility needs seamless connectivity throughout the country more so in the rural areas; affordable tariff plans by mobile operators; and user friendly interface and digital knowledge amongst the users. 

Obstacles that need to be removed on the digital payment for meeting the objectives of Digital India

India’s digital payment scenario is still in an evolutionary stage and is yet to touch its peak. Challenges that need to be addressed are: Users should have a seamless experience while opting for a payment mode; Security is one key aspect that requires attention when it comes to digital transactions. Cybercrime is a major threat to online transactions and users need to be educated on security aspect for digital payment. Security ranks highest among concerns for customers and vendors because one-touch mobile payment apps store credit card and other financial details to make payments easy and seamless; and rural India is yet to see fast internet speed, seamless network reach and a superior infrastructure.  

Countries which have done extremely well on mobile phone/digital payments platform

The digital payments industry today is worth a staggering $9 trillion. With home to 1.25 billion people, India will still take time to go completely digital. As on date, payment revenues in India account for nearly $14 billion. However, the recent wave of demonitization is changing the shape of the digital payment industry. A study notifies that in developed countries 85 per cent of the people own debit cards. Some countries we need to learn from are Canada, USA, United Kingdom and Belgium. These countries have successfully cut down on cash transactions. 

Role of security both in mobile phone ecosystem and digital payments platform to meet the objectives of Digital India

In a country like India which is yet to see heavy digital take up, security is one aspect that needs attention. Cyber crime is a worldwide threat and is also an issue in India as this refrains people from using digital mediums for payments. Though there has been remarkable improvements to make the payments gateways digitally secure, I think we need to continuously educate the people to take necessary precautions in order they do not fall prey to fraudsters.   

Pravin Prashant
pravin@varindia.com