‘India ahead of US, China in Digital Transactions

India is head and shoulders above the US and China – the two biggest economies in the world – when it comes to digital transactions, claimed IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

In a tweet on Friday, Vaishnaw posted that India recorded 25.4 billion digital transactions in 2020. This is 1.6 times compared to 15.7 billion digital transactions in China and over 21 times the 1.2 billion transactions seen in the US.

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma shared Vaishnaw’s tweet with a short and quirky caption

As per the Reserve Bank of India – Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI), digital transactions have been growing leaps and bounds. As per the central bank, the index stood at 270.59 in March 2021 as against 207.84 for March 2020 and 153.47 in March 2019. It takes March 2018 as its base period, marking the score for the index at 100.

The RBI-DPI measures spread of digital parameters in the nation on 5 broad parameters – Payment Enablers; Payment Infrastructure – Demand-side factors; Payment Infrastructure – Supply-side factors; Payment Performance; and Consumer Centricity. Each of these parameters have sub-parameters, which consist of various measurable indicators.

Central government has been trying to spur digital transactions even more. In May this year, NITI Aayog and Mastercard released a report titled ‘Connected Commerce: Creating a Roadmap for a Digitally Inclusive Bharat’. The report identified challenges in accelerating digital financial inclusion in India and provided recommendations for making digital services accessible to the entire population of the country.

The report recommended strengthening the payment infrastructure to promote a level playing field for NBFCs and banks. It also called for digitising registration and compliance processes and diversifying credit sources to enable growth opportunities for MSMEs.

Building information sharing systems, including a ‘fraud repository’, and ensuring that online digital commerce platforms carry warnings to alert consumers to the risk of frauds was one of the suggestions.

Source: LiveMint(Headlines Changed)