Ahmedabad: As digital payments become increasingly common, citizens across cities are finding themselves in situations where vendors, taxi drivers and small traders refuse to accept cash and insist on online transactions. While many acknowledge the convenience of digital payments, they say making them the only option can create difficulties during connectivity issues and for those who prefer cash for smaller purchases.Viral Mehta, a stock market professional, said he had repeatedly faced such situations in everyday transactions. “I have faced this problem many times. Every small transaction is not needed to be done through the bank,” Mehta said.He said frequent digital transactions also result in numerous entries in bank records. “My main concern is that there are multiple unnecessary entries in bank passbooks due to such online transactions,” he said.Mehta said the problem becomes more noticeable while travelling. “I try to make cash payments, but many times, in a taxi I have faced a problem when the cab driver declines to accept cash,” he said. He added that shopkeepers sometimes refuse cash citing a shortage of change.Mittal Patel, a professional, said she was comfortable with digital payments but did not favour making them mandatory. “Online transactions have made life easier, but it should not be compulsory,” Patel said.She said vendors sometimes insisted on online payments even when customers faced connectivity problems. “I have experienced many vendors insist on online payment only even if there was a data access problem,” she said.Patel also highlighted difficulties faced by senior citizens. “Aged people struggle a lot because they do not find it easy to make payments online,” she said.An employee of a leading catering services startup, which supplies food to several corporate offices, said the company does not permit cash payments. “As per instructions, we are not allowed to accept cash payments. We see many customers face problems due to this. However, most of our customers are young professionals so they find online payments easier,” the employee said.
