: Sitharugavur Mathura Puthur, a.k.a. Si.Ma.Puthur, one of the remotest villages in the Tiruvannamalai district, is taking its first tentative steps towards the era of cashless transactions. It is accessible by a rural road that branches away from the Tiruvannamalai-Vandavasi Road near Mazhaiyur and goes up to Desur, followed by another five kilometres on a potholed road.
Lush green fields with open wells, the rhythmic beats of power looms and handlooms, and homes with roofs made of handmade tiles welcome visitors to Si.Ma.Puthur.
Twenty small shops selling a variety of things dot the ‘bazaar’ here. G. Kumaravel, a fourth generation grocer in the village, appeared unsure when D. Pandiyan, manager of the Indian Bank branch in the village, displayed the QR code of his savings bank account on the front wall of his shop. M. Harinarayanan, staff at the bank, purchased a kilo of dry peas. Mr. Kumaravel weighed and packed it. Mr. Harinarayanan took out his mobile phone, opened the IndPay app and scanned the QR code on display. Mr. Kumaravel’s name and account number appeared on the screen, apart from a box for the amount. He filled in the amount and clicked, and asked Mr. Kumaravel to check the SMS inbox of his mobile phone. On seeing a message that said his account had been credited with Rs. 45 from Mr. Harinarayanan, Mr. Kumaravel broke into a smile. He had just stepped into a technology-enabled method of cashless transacting.
The way forward
Demonetisation had taken away about half of Mr. Kumaravel’s daily business. More people asked for credit on their purchases because they did not have money in their hand, he complained. He remained sceptical if people would be willing to pay him via mobile apps.
V. Meenakshi Sundaram, who has been running a teashop opposite Mr. Kumaravel’s shop for the last 44 years, receives the QR code too. He is reluctant, naturally. “How could I check my mobile to see if I had received Rs. 6 from a customer for a single tea, when I am busy with distributing tea?” he asks. Mr. Pandiyan patiently replies, “You will get used to it, they way you became accustomed to the mobile phone.” The manager with his grassroots-level rapport convinced 24 shopkeepers, including grocery shops, teashops and petty shops, to receive and display the QR code.
App needed
Distributing the QR codes appears to be a simple procedure. However, to make it work, customers need to have the IndPay app on their mobile phones. When asked how many of their customers had the app, Mr. Pandiyan said their branch in the village, which serves several other villages, too, had 12,000 accounts and many had the app. “In the last four months alone, 1,560 of our customers activated the app. Next, we plan to distribute the QR code to milkmen who collect milk from producers and supply them to milk packaging companies,” he said.
Indian Bank zonal manager R. Gajendran said they were distributing more QR codes to merchants since the demonetisation and Si.Ma.Puthur stands out because of its remote location.
“Unlike Point of Sale machines, merchants need not pay any charges while using the QR code method to receive money. Generating the QR code also comes for free through a simple procedure. However small the amount, it can be used for free,” he said. However, poor mobile and data connectivity in the villages is a problem.
