The UPI ERA by Rohit Shetty

The Banking sector has got so much reformed in a way that there is ease in day to day activities with funds being transferred at a click of an android phone.

Moving from a traditional system of preparing cheques and depositing the same in bank or waiting for hours to withdraw money from the bank to making use of NetBanking and RTGS payments online,use of debit and credit cards and finally through UPI payments,the Banking sector has gone a long way in today’s tech savvy world.

The immense change in technology has finally eased the time and reduced the trouble to go to a bank for our daily banking needs.The Gpay is constantly used in our day to day activities whether to buy groceries or an auto drive.There is no doubt that UPI payments are a boon to both the parties involved in a transaction.There are many pros and cons of this technology.Highlighting the pros first:

1) The UPI transactions finally manages to bring in accountability since the amounts received are directly reflected in the bank statement and also there are less chances of avoiding tax bringing transperancy.

2)The UPI payments helps the consumer in transferring the exact amount and hence reduces the need for keeping change.

3)The Banks benefit in a sense there is lesser need of keeping huge cash in atms or a bank branch and it’s a win win situation to all.

4)Of late more and more vendors are finding this system feasible than the traditional system of using currency notes.

While there are many pros of the UPI based payment system there is a need of addressing the cons:

1) Although UPI based payment system helps in making payment digitally it seldom recognises the need of budgeting.

2)The use of this technology has resulted in bank statements running into pages since every single transaction finds its place in the statement.

3)Although the pros are many we might not achieve 100% success in digitisation across India.

However the pros outnumber the cons having a 70-30 success rate.Some changes which could be incorporated in this system as suggested below:

While making a UPI transaction you can mention the nature of expense but there is no utility as to how much I have paid for groceries or conveyance or online purchase in a single month.A seperate utility should be provided in the form of a pie diagram or a chart.This could help a person understand where his money is going and for what purpose.Also if a seperate utility is provided for outflows and inflows the need of budgeting could be addressed.Acceptance of bank statements in pdf format rather than paper based will help in compliance.Also its the role of the government and the banking sector to highlight the need of maximum digitisation by bringing awareness and by extending its reach across India.

-Rohit Shetty(Author)