New Delhi: While citizens across the country went into a panic mode with the government demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, various quick-thinking brands tried to encash the opportunity and rolled out offers luring people to use plastic money even as popular markets such as Khan Market and Connaught Place here bore a deserted look.
Paytm jumped at the idea when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of high denomination currency last night and issued full page advertisements asking people to go “cash free”.
“We have got two words for you: Paytm Karo,” the mobile-wallet brand tweeted.
Cab aggregator Ola which tried to market its “Ola Money” feature claimed that they have recorded an increase of 1500 per cent in wallet recharges since the announcement was made.
“The Ola Money wallet has witnessed unprecedented traction amongst consumers over the last 12-15 hours with a 15 times increase in recharge volume. We have reported over 1500 per cent increase in recharges across the 102 cities of operation since 8:30 PM last night,” said Senior Vice President, Ola, Pallav Singh.
Uber India President, Amit Jain said, “Uber and other tech companies in India and around the world depend on consumers being able to frequently make low value payments with minimal friction. We encourage the government to adopt practical measures that can make digital transactions more convenient and seamless”.
Following the announcement Big Bazaar decided to keep their stores open till 11:50 PM last night so people could stock up for their daily needs.
Grocery shopping mobile applications such as Grofers, Local baniya, Big Basket, Housejoy and others introduced various offers prompting users to order the daily essentials through them using debit and credit card and netbanking and earn benefits like vouchers and cashback.
Portals like Freecharge and MobiKwik, which facilitate online payment of bills also marketed themselves saying “Don’t panic, go cashless”.
Popular markets like Connaught Place and Khan Market saw a huge dip in sales.
Atul Bhargav, President of the New Delhi Traders’ Association, said, “The business will be affected by at least 50-60 per cent as most of the people stock up only Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. Nobody thought that this would happen. In my opinion, our business is going to be affected for the next 10-15 days. The government has introduced such a step in the peak season and it is going to affect our business severely.”
Sanjeev Mehra, President, Khan Market Traders’ Association echoed similar sentiments as Bhargav and said that foreigners who have exchanged their currency for Indian money had only got Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes and this move has impacted them.
The market had a deserted look and we were sitting idle for most part of the day. Business has been badly affected and we couldn’t even accept Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes because we don’t know how we will account for them.
“I think the market will feel the impact of this move for the next two-three months. Bola toh gaya tha acche din aayenge, par bure din aa gaye. (We were told that we would see prosperous days but it doesn’t seem that way),” he added.
Departmental stores also went into a tizzy last night, as people visited them by hordes carrying high denomination notes.
’24×7 store’, which runs over 40 shops in Delhi, had to lower its shutters temporarily, post midnight to cope with the sudden spike in footfall.
The store’s shop in posh Lajpat Nagar even stuck a notice on it storefront, asking people not to tender notes of Rs 500 or Rs 1000 denominations.
“People made purchase of over Rs 30,000 and even more. We had to restrict entry of more visitors immediately after midnight as it was putting high pressure on our staff and billing mechanism,” a staffer said.
Source: The Economic Times
