[ Deter Geyi ]
The Covid pandemic changed a lot of things in our economy, the most vital one being the emergence and spread of online payment across the country during Covid to avoid human contact. This mode of payment became popular and is encouraged by the government. Though the option of online payment existed even before Covid, it was not widely used in Arunachal Pradesh. It was only during Covid-19 that we saw people adopting the online method of payment for their purchases, and, even after the end of the pandemic, the online method of payment still exists.
Many corner stores and vegetable vendors which are mostly run by women in Itanagar Capital Region are enabling and offering online payments with their own designated QR codes.
On being asked about the effects of online payment on their businesses, women vegetable vendors and butchers, Yal Makcha and Taman Hatake, of Abotani Colony, Itanagar, said that nothing much has changed in terms of business. They said that the number of customers is still the same, “though it’s a secure feeling to offer online payment.”
Vegetable vendors and women butchers in Ganga shared their dislike of online payment because half of them don’t use it and those who do use it consider it a hassle. The women who don’t use it say that they have no intention of ever offering online payment because they are uneducated and technology is beyond them. But they do agree that they have lost chances of selling more than once because of its absence.
The other half of women, like meat seller Yayak Yarna, who use the online payment system, said that “it’s a hassle.”
Sellers who only accept cash find it easier to handle money and plan for the future.
Tarh Boni, another meat seller in Ganga, shared her dislike of online payment.
“It is hard to trust online payment, as many times people fake network problem and promise to pay later but don’t and there are also times where payment is shown as ‘failed’ but the customers’ money has been deducted and no confirmation message on my phone makes it hard to deal with the situation, leading to heated arguments and dilemma.
“These situations sully the mood and make me question the very existence of this payment methods; still I offer it because of the high competition in the market,” she said.
Most of the vendors who have adopted the online method of payment show great dislike of the system but still think it’s necessary for their businesses.
All the women said that they do not know how online banking works, and that it’s their young ones or “techno friends and relatives” who handle the online transactions. (Deter is a 4th sem student of Mass Comm Dept, RGU and an intern in this daily)
