'Demonetisation is great news for startups' By Aditi Balbir, Founder & MD, V Resorts
The move clearly points at the cash economy going away, what better news for the startups, most of which are online, or are moving online. In the short run, the spending will go down, but taking a long-term view, the economy will benefit. A cash economy results in a lot of leakage, which can be checked when transactions go online.
From our business point of view, since we have a presence across India, in new destinations, we rely on a local vendors, and even before the 'demonetisation', a few of these vendors were using apps like Paytm and were registered online users.
When the demonetization happened, I was travelling in the interiors of Maharashtra, I had no cash, but I encouraged and taught the taxi and auto rickshaw guys how to install and use online payment apps, and they easily, without cribbing made that transition.
Also, the villagers seemed quite happy with the move. You see, in rural areas, usually there is a barter system and rarely is cash used for buying. In fact, Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes are not used at all. They are hoping that the move will do away with the biggest bane in their lives, the moneylenders, who charge exploitative interests on the cash loans. So while on my trip to these places, and interaction with people, I realised they were quite happy with the move.
