With demonetisation crippling his business, Ramesh, a vegetable seller in west Delhi’s Dabri, was fast losing hope when timely advice changed his fortune.
Ramesh saw his neighbour Kishan, a tomato seller, accepting payments through a mobile wallet app, making the latter’s shop somewhat of a bustling island amid the gloomy silence foisted by days of little to no economic activity in Dabri market.
The buzz caught the eye of other sellers, including Ramesh, and Kishan was more than willing to guide them on how to use the mobile application.
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“Since then, at least two dozen shopkeepers have switched to mobile wallets. It is a relief for I could not buy or sell anything. Now it is really easy for me to make transactions. It is swifter and more importantly there is no haggling for change, which were deal breakers in the first few days of demonetisation when people came with a Rs.2,000 note to buy vegetables worth less than Rs.100,” says Ramesh.
Now, when buyers ask for some complementary coriander, Ramesh says he jokingly tells them that the cashback amounts they earn by paying through mobile wallets is itself a discount.
‘Mini transformation’
The minimum amount that Ramesh has fixed at his shop to provide a customer the option of paying through the mobile-wallet app is Rs.10, but some of his fellow shopkeepers have set the limit to just Rs.5.
Kishan, who enjoys a pioneer sort of a status in this “mini transformation”, says it was a newspaper article on mobile wallets that caught his attention.
He already had a smartphone, but was not really tech-savvy when it came to installing apps.
The search for a helping hand took him to some mobile shops and one such visit was timed perfectly as a representative of a mobile wallet company was also there.
“It was easy from there on. He guided me and trained me to the extent that I could help others,” says Kishan.
Next step
Another lucky break for the shopkeepers was that most of the customers had mobile-wallet apps.
Kishan and Ramesh hope that as time goes on, the wholesale markets will also start accepting payments through mobile wallets.
