Final Project(sem Iv).docx

University of Mumbai GNVS Institute of Management GTB Nagar, Sion-Koliwada (E), Mumbai-400037

Final Year Project Report A.Y. 2017-18

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of Masters in Management Studies (Specialization: Finance) Topic I: General Management : Plastic Industry Topic II: Functional Analysis : Digital Payment Sector Topic III: Social relevance : NGO Visit

Submitted by: Name: Diana Dharamsi Roll No: 201645

Under the Guidance of Professor Name: Dr. Latha Sreeram 1

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the Final Year Project Report submitted for the MMS Degree programme at GNVS Institute of Management (Affiliated to University of Mumbai) is my original work and is conducted in under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Latha Sreeram

Place: Mumbai Date: (XXXXXXXXXXX) Signature of the Student

2

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Final Year Report is the bonafide work, which carried out by Ms. Diana Dharamsi, student of MMS programme, at GNVS Institute of Management (Affiliated to University of Mumbai) during the period of December 2017 to March 2018, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master in Management Studies.

Place: Mumbai Signature of Student Date:

Signature of Internal Guide

College seal

Signature of External Examiner

Signature of Director

3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my gratitude to Sister Maria Joseph from the NGO - Missionaries of Charity for providing me valuable information and guidance for the NGO Project. I am grateful to GNVS Institute of Management for giving me an opportunity to pursue MMS programme. I wish to thank Dr. R. K. Singh, Director, GNVS Institute of Management who has been a perpetual source of inspiration and offered valuable suggestions. I am indebted to my Guide Dr. Latha Sreeram, GNVS Institute of Management, for providing guidance, support, and encouragement throughout my internship Study. I would like to express my thanks to all people from the Missionaries of Charity for their support and guidance from time to time during my internship programme.

Place: Mumbai Date:

Signature of the student

( Name : Diana Dharamsi )

4

5

TABLE OF CONTENTS SR.NO. 1

PROJECT I : GENERAL MANAGEMENT : PLASTIC INDUSTRY TITLE PAGE NO. INTRODUCTION 9

2

LITERATURE REVIEW

41

3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

46

4

CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

79

5

CONCLUSION

80

PROJECT II : FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS : DIGITAL PAYMENT SECTOR SR.NO. TITLE PAGE NO. 1 INTRODUCTION 82 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

105

3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

115

4

CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

150

5

CONCLUSION

156

SR.NO.

PROJECT III : SOCIAL RELEVANCE : NGO VISIT TITLE

PAGE NO.

1

INTRODUCTION TO THE NGO

160

2

FEATURES OF THE NGO

168

3

STUDENT PROJECT ACTIVITY-OBJECTIVES

174

5

ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT AT THE NGO

175

6

CONCLUSION

186

BIBLOGRAPHY

187

ANNEXURE

190

6

PROJECT I : GENERAL MANAGEMENT : PLASTIC INDUSTRY

7

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Indian plastic industry is making significant contribution to the economic development and growth of various key sectors in the country which includes Automotive, Construction, Electronics, Healthcare, Textiles, and FMCG. Today, the plastic processing sector comprises over 30,000 units involved in producing a variety of items, gaining notable importance in different spheres of activity with per capita consumption increasing. The plastic processing industry has the potential to contribute in bringing foreign investments and thus India’s vision of becoming a manufacturing hub.

Moreover, in the last decade, several new applications of plastic products have emerged in several sectors boosting the industry further. For example, long fiber reinforced thermoplastic for automotive industry, fibers that can trap infra-red radiations, packaging that can increase the shelf life of products etc. have created demand for plastics which were in their nascent stage in India.

However, despite having a good growth potential, the plastic processing industry faces many challenges in terms of environmental myths, lack of advanced technology, limited infrastructure, & high volatility in feedstock prices. To overcome these challenges, significant efforts will have to be made by all the stakeholders to realize the real potential of this industry.

This project carries out the ratio analysis of 5 companies from the Plastic Sector namely Supreme Industries, VIP Industries, Nilkamal Ltd., Cello Wimplast and Plastiblends Ltd. On comparing the ratios, a final conclusion is to be drawn as to which company is better amongst the five. Also this project highlights the overall position of plastic industry, the current challenges faced by the industry and the opportunities available.

8

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 OVERVIEW OF INDIAN PLASTIC SECTOR

The Indian plastics industry made a promising beginning in 1957 with the production of polystyrene. Thereafter, significant progress has been made, and the industry has grown and diversified rapidly. The Plastics Industry in India has made significant development since its inception in1957 by producing Polystyrene .The chronology polymer manufacture in India is as under : 1957~~Polystyrene  1959~~Low Density Poly ethylene (LDPE)  1961~~Poly Vinyl Chloride(PVC)  1968~~High Density Poly Ethylene(HDPE)  1978~~Polypropylene

The Indian plastics industry produces and exports a wide range of raw materials, plastic-molded extruded goods, polyester films, molded / soft luggage items, writing instruments, plastic woven sacks and bags, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), leather cloth and sheeting, packaging, consumer goods, sanitary fittings, electrical accessories, laboratory / medical surgical ware, tarpaulins, laminates, fishnets, travel ware, and others.

The Indian plastics industry offers excellent potential in terms of capacity, infrastructure and skilled manpower. It is supported by a large number of polymer producers, and plastic process machinery and mould manufacturers in the country.

9

Among the industry’s major strengths is the availability of raw materials in the country. Thus, plastic processors do not have to depend on imports. These raw materials, including polypropylene, high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene and PVC, are manufactured domestically.

The industry spans the country and hosts more than 2,000 exporters. It employs about 4 million people and comprises more than 30,000 processing units, 85-90 percent of which are small and medium-sized enterprises.

10

1.2 STRUCTURE OF INDIAN PLASTIC SECTOR The entire chain in the Plastic industry can be classified into: (A) Upstream sector: Manufacturing of polymers and (B) Downstream sector: Conversion of polymers into plastic articles

The upstream polymer manufacturers have commissioned globally competitive size plants with imported state-of-art technology from the world leaders. The upstream petrochemical industries have also witnessed consolidation to remain globally competitive.

The downstream plastic processing industry is highly fragmented and consists of micro, small and medium units. There are over 30,000 registered plastic processing units of which about 75% are in the small-scale sector. The small-scale sector, however, accounts for only about 25% of polymer consumption. The industry also consumes recycled plastic, which constitutes about 30% of total consumption.

11

1.3 PROCESS FOLLOWED BY PLASTIC SECTOR

12

1.4 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF PLASTIC SECTOR

India is well recognized Plastic hub in the world because of its low cost production. Cheap labor, easy availability and low cost of raw materials and weak currency are the factors that are driving Plastic Industry. India is one of the largest producers of Plastic in the world and is expected to become 3rd largest plastic manufacturer by 2020. Plastic production began in 1957 with production of polystyrene. As of now, there are more than 2000 exporters of plastic in the country and more than 30,000 manufacturing plants are available, most of which are small or medium sized enterprises. Plastic industry gave job to 4 million people in India.

India is currently ranked among the top five global consumers of polymers and has over 30,000 plastic processing units employing more than 4 million people across the country.

India exports both plastic raw materials and finished products to over 200 countries across the globe. India’s plastics exports for April-December 2017 stood at $5.46bn, up 14.4% year on year, due to increased exports to the US, Europe and also to emerging markets in Latin America, Africa and ASEAN, according to data from PLEXCONCIL.

The plastics processing industry has grown at a CAGR of 10% in volume terms from 8.3 MMTPA in FY10 to 13.4 MMTPA in FY15 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 10.5% from FY15 to FY20 to reach 22 MMTPA. In value terms, the plastic processing industry has grown at a CAGR of 11% from INR 35,000 Cr. in FY05 to INR 100,000 Cr. in FY15. 8.3 22 FY10 FY15 FY20 10%.

13

Plastic sector expected to deploy 180,000 machines in 2020 from the currently 120,000 machines. India’s plastics industry is targeting at least a 3% share of the global polymer export market by 2025, to be achieved by a combination of capacity expansion and technology upgrades. The target represents a tripling of the current share of 1% of the global market, which is currently estimated at more than $850bn.Export of plastic goods from India expected to double from 7.9 Billion US$ currently to about 15 Billion US$ in 5 years

14

The Indian plastics industry is expected to grow at an annual rate of 8-10%, with domestic polymer consumption expected to double by 2028.Because of this, the government is pushing for plastic parks to expand production capacity to meet domestic demand, as well as increase India's exports. PLEXCONCIL and other industry bodies, in collaboration with the Indian government are reaching out to the SMEs to encourage them to expand production. Domestic consumption of plastic is expected to touch 20 million Metric Tons by 2020.

Plastic processing is the pillar of economy in most of the advanced economies. Per capita consumption of the world is 28 kg whereas India’s 11 kg and China 38 kg, Brazil 32 kgs. USA, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, Australia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan it is more than 100 kg. This means India has big potential to grow and many opportunities. India’s per capita consumption one of the lowest in Asia.

15

1.5 KEY GROWTH DRIVERS

The growth rate of the Indian plastics industry is among the highest in the world, with plastics consumption growing at 16% per year (compared to 10% p.a. in China and around 2.5% p.a. in the UK). Considering a growing middle class (currently around 50 million) with low per capita consumption of plastics (currently 9.7kg per head), this high growing rate is likely to continue, as the per capita consumption of plastics will inevitably increase. The Plastindia Foundation estimated that plastics consumption in India is likely to reach 16kg.

Although India’s plastics industry has been hit by the country’s general economic crisis over the last two years, including the weakening rupee, underlying economic activity remains strong as the usage of plastic is growing in more and more sectors, opening new markets and replacing traditional materials. As domestic plastics demand and consumption in India continue to grow at about twice the rate of India’s overall economy, polymers is one of the highest segments with an expected growth rate of between 8-12% a year through 2020. India’s plastics industry 16

believes the market will see more than double its polymer consumption by 2020, reaching 20 million metric tons.

Indian Plastics Exports

According to the Plastics

Export Promotion Council, known as PLEXCONCIL, the exports of the Indian plastic industry have reached over USD 7.6 billion in 2014-2015, and aim to reach USD 10 billion by 2015-2016, from only $16.5 million worth of exports in 1955-56. The Indian plastic and petrochemical sector has a huge potential for growth and there is a need for free trade agreement (FTA) and duty inversion to make cost of manufacture in the country cheaper. The plastic sector has a huge potential for development and there is a great scope for consumption in sector of housing, public infrastructure and agriculture. Technical Upgradation fund is applicable at present in pharmaceutical and textile sector, which may also be considered and discussed for plastic and polymer sector. The basic problem with plastic is its management. We invite the industry to participate pro- actively in plastic waste management.

A favorable cost benefit ratio and a versatile range of applications encourages the growth of plastics. The properties of these materials can be customized to meet specific demands by varying the chemical properties like molecular weight & side chain branching or by making copolymers and polymer blends. Major reasons for the growth of the plastic processing industry are growth in the end use segments and higher penetration of plastics in various industry segments. The following figure illustrates major growth drivers for various industries

17

The government policy to push investment in infrastructure is expected to lead to rise in consumption of plastic products in the country, according to a knowledge paper ‘Sustainable infrastructure with plastics’ – jointly prepared by FICCI and Tata Strategic Management Group (TSMG). With Government's current campaign on 'Make in India' which has a special focus on the chemical industry and aims to turn the country into a global manufacturing hub, a tremendous growth in the plastic processing sector is expected especially in downstream industries. The government should not hesitate to provide better infrastructure and favorable policies. With a step already being taken in that direction, plastics are bound to find tremendous use in the infrastructure space,” said the paper. The Government of India is taking every possible initiative to boost the infrastructure sector with investments of INR 25 lakh crore over the next 3 years in roads, railways and shipping infrastructure. Investments in water and sanitation management, irrigation, building & construction, power, transport and retail have been encouraged. Plastics play an important role in these sectors through various products like pipes, wires & cables, water proofing membranes, wood PVC composites and other sectors. Consequently, higher investments in these sectors will drive the demand for plastics. 18

The knowledge paper stated that plastics processing industry has grown at a CAGR of 10 percent in volume terms from 8.3 MMTPA in FY10 to 13.4 MMTPA in FY15 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.5 percent from FY15 to FY20 to reach 22 MMTPA. In value terms, the plastic processing industry has grown at a CAGR of 11 percent from Rs 35,000 crore in FY ’05 to Rs 100,000 crore in FY15. The current low levels of per capita consumption (11 Kg), increased growth in end use industries, higher penetration of plastics in various existing applications and ever growing range of new applications could further propel the growth of plastics in India.

19

1.6 CHALLENGES FACED BY PLASTIC PROCESSING INDUSTRY

1. Highly fragmented plastic processing industry

The Indian plastics processing industry is highly fragmented and small and micro players constitute majority of the units. Indian Petrochemical Industry is facing intense competition from the Middle East countries where price of feedstock ranges between one-fifth to one-tenth which is the prices prevailing in international markets.

India's plastics market depends on labor intensive equipment which has adversely impacted the productivity. Unreliable power and high energy costs in India as compared with other countries are also constraints which hamper capacity utilization.

2. Environmental hazards

While the usage and benefits of plastics are manifold, it invariably gets branded as a polluting material. Plastics, being a polymer derived from crude, are made up of long chains of carbon. It takes years for them to decompose completely. Improper disposal of plastics leads to ground water pollution, disturbance in soil microbial activity along with releasing of carcinogenic chemicals in the atmosphere leading to health issues among people. The other life forms also get affected due to this imbalance in value chain, with stray cattle feeding on thrown-away plastics. These adverse impacts are alarming the society and industry to ensure proper disposal of plastics. Both government as well as industry needs to come forward to cater to this issue and sensitize the general mass to follow the ritual of recycling waste plastic products. If plastics can be collected and disposed off or recycled as per laid down guidelines/rules then the issue of plastic waste can be suitably addressed. There is wide scope for industries based on re-cycling of plastics waste.

20

3. Want of newer technologies The Indian Plastic processing industry has seen a shift from low output/low technology machines to high output, high technology machines. There has been some major technological advancement of global standards leading to achievements. Focus to develop a state-of-the-art R&D is dying down with more focus on increasing the capacity utilization. Domestic machinery is manufactured as per the current technology to improve productivity and energy efficiency, in order to enable the processors to compete globally. Key machineries are imported from Europe, the U.S. and Japan which invite a 7.5%customs duty resulting in huge losses. India's technical needs are acute in areas like high production and automatic blow molding machines, multilayer blow molding, stretch/blow molding machines, specific projects involving high capital expenditure like PVC calendaring; multilayer film plants for barrier films, multilayer cast lines, BOPP and non-woven depend exclusively on imported technology/machinery.

4. Price and Currency Volatility

Cost of plastic processing is largely correlated to crude oil price which is a major determining factor for polymer raw materials. It is worthy of note that crude oil prices have experienced a heightened degree of volatility in the recent past, wherein prices have plummeted to around USD 50/bbl in 2016 from USD100/ bbl in 2014. Further, with a large number of raw materials being imported into India, currency volatility also poses as a significant challenge to plastic processors.

21

1.7 KEY OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLASTIC INDUSTRY 1. Plasticulture

Plasticulture can play a key role in energy conservation. It essentially stresses on the use of plastics in agriculture, horticulture, water management, food grains storage and related areas. A multitude of plastic materials may be employed in Plasticulture applications such as water conservation, irrigation efficiency, crop protection, including farm output practices like crop storage and transportation. Growing population and decreasing size of arable lands has necessitated the need to employ clean, green and sustainable practices to save resources and enhance productivity. Usage of plastics in agriculture can lead to: • Yield improvement up to 50-60% • Water savings up to 60-70% • Prevention of weeds growth • Soil conservation • Protection against adverse climatic conditions • Fertilizer savings up to 30-40% • Reduction in post-harvest losses • Conversion – cold desert/wasteland for productive use

2. Growth in key end-use industries

The industries which plastics cater to heavily are FMCG, Construction and Infrastructure and Agriculture. Increasing population, growing urbanization and shift in lifestyle has pushed these sectors to gain a high growth in past decade. This has prompted a double-digit growth for plastics in India. With sectors like pharmaceuticals, personal and home care, etc. emerging in the rural areas and reinforced efforts in bringing out innovative plastic products, the industry is expecting further uplift in near future. 22

3. Growing interest in Bio-Plastics

Growing interest in green products, healthier lifestyles and growing concern to protect environment is leading to a shift towards bio-plastics. Bio-plastics are plastics that contain bio based content, are biodegradable or both. Many polymers like PLA (Poly Lactic Acid), PHA (Poly Hydroxyalkanoates), Bio PTT (Poly Trim ethyl Terephthalate), Bio PDO (Propanediol) etc. are the part of this upcoming trend.

These plastics are significantly made of renewable materials like bio mass and save up to 40% energy in production as compared to their petrochemical counterparts.

The market for this product is still in its infancy. High cost of bio-plastics, lack of clear understanding and infrastructure, limited amount of funding available are acting as constraint to the evolution of this segment. However, increasing stress on green chemistry is expected to bring down the cost, also increasing environmental awareness, positive attitude from government, continuous R&D efforts and shift in consumer preference towards environmental friendly option will lead to the evolution in demand of this industry.

4. Effective Waste Management Plastic has low energy requirements during production, hence considered to be energy efficient. It consumes ~25% less energy in production compared to other alternatives. It results in lower emission of CO. Thus when compared to glass or aluminum plastics results in lighter environmental footprint. However, plastic is a sustainable choice only if recycled and disposed of properly. This can be achieved mainly through segregation of waste at source, promotion of waste management infrastructure and the increased the use of bio-based plastics.

23

1.8 IMPACT OF GST ON PLASTIC INDUSTRY

Plastic might prove to be the next bottleneck when it comes to GST as, from rakhis to furniture; manufacturers are finding it difficult to understand the taxation. “Will my tax be 28% as I make furniture or can I mark it down to 18% as it's a plastic item?“ is the common question arising in the minds of plastic makers.

The same confusion prevails for SMEs producing bindis, bangles and puja threads. While they are exempt from tax, some fear the use of plastic, glitters and faux flowers can add to the price and the tax element. Same is the case with bangles -while plain bangles are exempt, shellac bangle makers have been asked to pay tax of 3%. So does one have to pay tax for silk or glass or plastic bangles is a question that small manufacturers have.

With bindi or bangle, there would be 0% tax. Manufacturing a product using two or three items like glue, plastic does not change what the end product is. The manufacturer would have paid the GST for purchasing glue as a raw material and plastic as a raw material. So the end product -bindi -will not be taxed and there can be input tax credit, because of earlier taxes on the same.

But for a product like plastic flower pots, swings or ham mocks, it might be more difficult. The item is made 100% from plastic and usually no other ingredient is added. So it is possible that makers can just list them as plastic items for the purposes of tax and not furniture. It will be take a year before such issues are properly addressed. They are highly technical and the government has constantly been posting updates. For instance, this issue on shellac bangles at 3% was clarified in a recent FAQ. So we can expect more such clarifications.

24

Among other reasons MSME manufacturers of small plastic items might get hit is the rate of taxation and the size of industries. The plastics industry has raised objection to high GST rates fixed for some plastics items of day-to-day use.Pointing to serious anomalies in GST rates, Plastindia Foundation said though the GST rate has been kept below 12 per cent on some of the plastic products, a large number of plastics items were placed in the 18 per cent and 28 per cent tax brackets. However, the GST Council had decided that items of day-to-day use at 5 per cent or lower standard GST rate of 12 per cent, it added. The overall increase in tax will not only hit thousands of small and medium plastics industries but also the poor and middle class who have to face the increase in plastic product prices, it added.

Under 28% tax bracket

A few items such as plastics furniture, tarpaulin woven and non-woven raffia fabric, plastics for office and school supplies, PVC floorings, PE interlocking mats, vacuum flasks and other miscellaneous articles of plastics which are mainly used by common man have been kept under highest GST tax bracket of 28 per cent. Though light weight and low in cost plastics furniture is voluminous article incurring huge transportation, storage and distribution costs. The GST rate of 28 per cent on these items will be very prohibitive. Further, under the present indirect tax regime, the Central Excise is to be paid only up to manufacturing stage but under GST tax regime the CGST impact will be on sale to consumer.

25

In fact, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, the parent ministry, had recommended GST rate of 12 per cent on all plastics raw materials, machineries and plastics finished products.

Given the tax burden on plastic products, higher taxes on plastics industry will impact the industry and create inflationary pressure on economy.

While whole heartedly welcoming introduction of GST, the plastics industry urged the government to remove the anomalies in prescribed GST on various plastics items of day to day use and common man’s use. As per decision of GST council, items of day to day use were supposed to attract merit GST rate of 5% or lower standard GST rate of 12%. Some of the items were supposed to be under higher standard GST rate of 18%. Only luxury goods were supposed to attract 28% GST rate.

But, it seems while fixing GST rate on many plastics products may have escaped attention of GST council. Pointing at the dangers of hurting the poor and middle-class of India, industry leaders made a plea that plastic products are mostly used by common man, poor and middle class and hence should be considered as merit item in everyone’s daily life.

While some of the plastics products have been kept below 12% tax bracket, a large number of plastics items have been placed in 18% tax brackets while some are even being placed at highest tax bracket of 28%. The industry leaders feel that overall increase in tax will not only hit thousands of small & medium plastics industries but will also hurt the poor and middle class and lead to increase in prices of plastics products used by economically lower sections of society.

It was further justified for reduction of GST rate on a few items from 28% to 12% and on all other plastics items also should be kept under uniform GST rate of 12%. These 26

include furniture, Tarpaulin, woven & non-woven raffia fabric, plastics articles for office & school supplies, PVC floorings, plastics interlocking mats, vacuum flasks and other miscellaneous articles of plastics not specified elsewhere.

Overall a large cross-section of plastics industry leaders believe that the tax burden would increase, something that goes against the government’s promise of GST reducing the overall tax rate. Higher taxes on plastics industry will impact not entire plastics industry but will also create an inflationary pressure on economy.

Plastics industry in recent past is growing at an annual average growth of more than 10 % and is contributing significantly to the GDP growth. The industry exported plastics worth $7.9 billion in FY 2016 – 17. As an industry’s apex body, Plastindia Foundation believes that SMEs are likely to be impacted most. Out of about more than 50,000 plastics units, over 95 % are in medium & small scale industries.

27

1.9 IMPACT OF PLASTIC BAGS BAN EFFECT OF PLASTIC BAN ON INDIAN PLASTIC INDUSTRY

According to Toxics Link, an environmental NGO, the Indian capital generates almost 250,000 tons of plastic waste every year. By the Indian government's own estimates, over 10 million plastic bags are used and discarded daily by 16 million residents in New Delhi and its suburbs.

And at times, it seems, the entire city is covered in them. Not only do they litter up the streets and parks, they also pose a great health risk to animals, particularly cows and bulls, which roam the streets freely and forage for food in the city's open garbage dumps.

Plastic bags not only clutter up the city, but also pose a threat to animals which eat them while foraging for food. Now, Delhi wants to put a ban on them, again. But over 20,000 people risk losing jobs due to this ban.

Not only do the bags contain harmful chemicals used in the production of plastic, studies have also found the inks and colorants used on some bags to contain toxic lead. The need for a cleaner and greener Delhi finally forced the city's Chief Minister Sheila Dixit to crack the whip and ban the use of all plastic bags after a previous law to use thinner plastic was disregarded.

Violation of the ban is punishable with fine of up to 100,000 rupees (US$ 1,800) and/or up to five years of imprisonment. Only plastic bags required for medical waste will be exempt.

In 2009, plastic bags were banned in Delhi. But the order was never implemented properly because many of the stakeholders and enforcing agencies, including the Delhi 28

Pollution Control Committee, the Municipal Corporation, and environment and labor departments, worked at cross-purposes. Currently, around 400 plastic bag manufacturing units are operating in the city and the total yearly turnover of these units is in the range of 115 to 130 million euros. An industry expert claimed that over 20,000 people would be left jobless if the units are closed down.

The threat posed to the environment by the use of plastic items has been blown out of proportion. Where is the rehabilitation policy for such people who will lose their livelihoods?

But environmentalists feel these production facilities could instead be used to manufacture a number of other plastic products, thus saving jobs.

There is a lot of environmental damage these bags cause. While the government has demonstrated political will, it will need better coordination to monitor the ban closely.

Alternatives

A big worry for shopkeepers is the alternatives that will come in place. Introducing cheap alternatives to the market is as important as banning plastic bags. Cloth and jute packaging would be too expensive and paper is not a good option as that would expose the groceries to moisture and lead to fungus and insects.

The capital will shortly join a clutch of a few other cities in the country that will have a ban on the bag. The big question is how successful the law will be and whether or not it will actually be enforced.

29

MAHARASHTRA’S BAN ON PLASTIC BAGS SHOULD NOT BE AN END IN ITSELF

Maharashtra’s proposed ban is more a reaction to reports that carelessly thrown plastic trash clogs drains and causes flooding, rather than to any serious thought about the environment Maharashtra will ban a variety of plastic products from March 18, the state’s New Year. It had earlier announced a ban on plastic bags, but has now decided to extend the prohibition to one-use food containers made of plastic foam, locally called thermocol. There will also be a ban, in government offices and hotels, on PET — polyethylene terephthalate, a polymer resin — bottles used for packing drinking water. But, nothing has been said about the other types of plastics that plague the environment. Experts have said multi-layer packaging — which comprises a metal film sandwiched between recyclable plastic — is a growing environment threat. This material, which is used to pack crisps, tea and other foods, is not recycled, according to Almitra Patel, a member of the Supreme Court Committee for Solid Waste Management that was set up to help cities work out ways to deal with their trash disposal problems. The Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016 Rule 9 (3) says the manufacture and use of non-recyclable multilayered plastic shall be phased out by March 2018. Maharashtra’s proposed ban is more a reaction to reports that carelessly thrown plastic trash clogs drains and causes flooding, rather than to any serious thought about the environment. Plastic is a scourge that is devastating the earth. An estimated 12m tones of plastic enters the oceans each year. A study by Orb Media this year said fibres, produced by plastic waste breaking down, were found in 83% of tap water samples tested from across the world. In India, 82.4% of the samples had plastic fibres. The contamination rate was 94.4% in the United States and 72.2% in Europe. While there have been no findings on the health impact of the fibres on human health, plastic residues have found in fish, sea birds, marine mammals. 30

Marine life and birds are eating microplastics — particles less than 5mm in diameter created by the breaking down of larger pieces of plastic and discarded polymer-derived textiles — mistaking them for food. Even seemingly-innocuous items such as plastic drinking straws are disastrous for our ecosystem. The straws, which are made of polymer, dyes and plasticisers — to make them pliable — do not biodegrade naturally and can remain in the environment for centuries, leaching chemicals into soil and water. Online shopping companies use plastic for packing merchandise. Environmentalists said the bans have to extend beyond bags and water bottles. If the ban is on single-use plastic, it will have an impact. But, banning single-use plastic is the first step, and not an end in itself. Apart from bans, taxes and surcharges on plastic use are another way to reduce its use. Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, equivalent to our Minister of Finance, recently suggested a tax on single-use plastics used in takeaway cartons and packaging. The ministry said more than a million birds and 100,000 sea mammals and turtles die each year after eating or getting trapped in plastic waste. The government is also trying to reduce the dumping of unrecyclable takeaway drinks containers such as coffee cups. Plastic manufacturers agreed that plastic is a problem for the environment, but think that Maharashtra’s ban is ill-conceived. The ban on PET bottles is the worst thing they can do [to reduce plastic waste]. They are targeting a product that has a 90% recycling rate. Alternative choices, such as glass bottles, will have a great carbon footprint [in the form of energy and materials needed to make the bottles and recycle them]. Bhargava said plastic manufacturers are ready to work with the government and experts to find ways to recycle materials like multi-layer packaging. When we use multi-layer packing, we are looking at food security and increase in food shelf life. Scrap collectors do not pick it up because it is scattered, but it can be recycled — to create fuel — and we can have facilities to collect the bags

31

BANNING PLASTIC PACKAGING TO HAVE ADVERSE IMPACT ON SEVERAL INDUSTRIES

Banning plastic packaging would adversely impact the growth of several industries such as FMCG, food processing, etc, and is likely to raise the cost of products (especially low-cost) by manifold, according to a new study - titled ‘Why Banning Plastics Packaging is Not a Viable Option’ – released by The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Strategy& (the management consulting arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers) on May 6, 2015.

While appreciating the concerns related to environment it needs to be noted that restrictions or ban on plastics packaging would impact the growth of several industries like FMCG, food processing, plastics packaging and allied industries. It could further adversely impact consumers in terms of cost, health and safety.

FICCI has conducted a study to analyse the impact of a possible ban and the findings show that this could lead to unwarranted consequences particularly on low priced products (Rs 5) as the cost to manufacture and distribute these products could rise multi fold. Further this study revealed that plastics industry sales & employment, agriculture sector and farmers could also be impacted.

Plastics are the material of choice in packaging products across categories globally. In India, an overwhelming majority of the FMCG products are packaged in plastic – in fact, 90 percent of biscuits, dried processed food items, hair care products, dairy products, laundry products and baked goods sold in India in 2014 were packaged in plastic.

Plastic has been the preferred material for packaging (relative to alternatives such as glass, paper, metals etc) globally as well as in India due to three critical benefits superior food safety, quality and shelf life; lower environmental impact across the 32

product lifecycle; and better versatility to create more innovative and consumer friendly packaging options.

A ban on plastic packaging will directly impact plastic industry sales of Rs 53,000 crores. Additionally, about 13 lakh personnel across 10,000 firms (mostly SMEs) engaged in plastic packaging for FMCG will need to find alternative employment. The indirect impact based on multiplier effect will be ever larger - 2 to 2.5x the direct impact on sales and 3-5x on employment levels.

Further, it is deduced the ban might forfeit the purpose of intention behind it. As alternatives, in general, have lower product to package ratio, resulting in the use of higher quantities of raw materials. They also require higher energy and water during manufacturing.

It is recommended that the prudent way forward is not an outright ban on plastic packaging but rather finding solutions to the problem of plastic waste management.

The reuse rates in India are about 70% for PET-plastic, and lower for non-PET plastic. The low rate of reuse is despite the existence of technologies that have been tested in India – such as polymer blending in bitumen roads and co-processing in cement kilns that can help India solve its plastic conundrum in its entirety.

The root causes for the low rates of re-use, and recommends a four-pronged approach that various stakeholders including the government and industry should undertake to improve the segregation, collection, recycling and re-use of plastic waste.

33

Risks Here are some of the risks plastic bags pose: 

Animals - birds, marine life, cattle, and more - often mistake plastic bags for food or nest-building materials, which leads to poisoning, choking, entanglement, and blocked intestines - all of which can result in death.



Since plastic bags can't biodegrade, they last virtually forever (some estimates say 500+ years). Instead, they break down into smaller pieces (called microplastics) that leach toxicants that pollute the earth and even the human food supply.



Due to their light weight, plastic bags can easily blow out of trash receptacles or even landfills. They then clog up waterways, damage agricultural land, and provide ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes.



Plastic bags are manufactured using petroleum, a nonrenewable resource that can be used for several more important things.

34

PLASTIC BAN: WHAT INDIA CAN LEARN FROM OTHER COUNTRIES

Experts have estimated that annual waste generation in India will increase to 165 million tonnes by 2030. This means that around 66,000 hectares of land is needed to set up a landfill site which is 10 metres high and can hold up to 20 years’ waste. That is almost 90% of Bengaluru’s area. If we do not change our waste practices now then we will soon be buried in our own muck

Every product has a shelf life, but sadly that is not the case with plastics. The fact is that our planet cannot digest plastic. Plastics take around 500 to 1000 years to completely degrade due to the presence of complex polymers. As a result, till now whatever bit of plastic has ever been manufactured or used by us can be found in some form or the other on the planet. And now it has reached a crisis point. Currently, India generates around 56 lakh tonnes of plastic waste annually, where Delhi alone accounts for 9,600 metric tonnes per day. Plastic menace is also one of the major causes that is making waste management an Herculean task for the country.

Scientists estimate that every square mile of oceans contains about 46,000 pieces of floating plastic. According to The World Economic Forum study done on plastic pollution around the world, Oceans will have more plastics than fish by 2050, if plastic pollution continues to rise. India’s contribution to plastic waste that is dumped into the world’s oceans every year is a massive 60%.

35

WHY BAN OF PLASTIC IS INEFFECTIVE IN INDIA

Currently in India, there is only one law that is in place – No manufacturer or vendor can use a plastic bag which is below 50 microns as thinner bags pose a major threat to the environment due to its non-disposability. The usage of plastic bags is still high as the ban is not implemented on all plastic bags. Many big brands and vendors have started charging the customers for the polybags in order to commercially discourage them, but it is so far not been effective as there is no law or guidelines that says shopkeepers should charge money from the customers for the polybag. National Green Tribunal in Delhi NCR introduced a ban on disposable plastic like cutlery, bags and other plastic items amid concern over India’s growing waste. The ban came into effect on January 1, but, till now nothing has been done by the government. As a result, the production and usage of plastic persist in large amounts and India continues to be the top four producers of plastic waste in the world. Currently, cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Karwar, Tirumala, Vasco, Rajasthan, Kerala, Punjab and now Madhya Pradesh to name a few have the ban on the plastic bags in place. But, its enforcement and effective implementation is an issue.

36

AROUND THE WORLD: HOW ARE COUNTRIES DEALING WITH PLASTIC

France: The country passed a ‘Plastic Ban’ law in 2016 to fight the growing problem of plastic pollution in the world which states all plastic plates, cups, and utensils will be banned by 2020. France is the first country to ban all the daily-usable products that are made of plastic. The added benefit of this law is that it also specifies that the replacements of these items will need to be made from biologically sourced materials that can be composted. The law also follows a total ban on plastic shopping bags. The law aims at cutting the usage of plastic bags in the country by half by 2025.

Rwanda:

The country too suffered from plastic pollution like any other developing country, there were billions of plastic bags choking waterways and destroying entire ecosystems of Rwanda. To fight this scourge, the government launched a radical policy to ban all nonbiodegradable plastic from the country. This developing country in Africa is plastic bag free since 2008. The country implemented a complete ban on plastic bags while other countries around the world were just starting to impose taxes on plastic bags. The ban is not effective just because of strict enforcement but also because of hefty penalties. According to the law, the offenders smuggling plastic bags can face jail time.

Sweden: Known as one of the world’s best recycling nations, Sweden is following the policy of ‘No Plastic Ban, Instead More Plastic Recycling.’ There is one simple reason behind this – Sweden has world’s best recycling system. Mostly all the trash in Sweden’s system gets burned in incinerators. The system is so strong and in place that less than one percent of Sweden’s household waste goes into the landfill dump. Recently, they also

37

run out of trash. Now they are actually asking other countries for their garbage so that it can keep its recycling plants running.

Ireland:

Ireland is the perfect example that shows how one can get rid of the ubiquitous symbol of urban life – Plastics. The country passed a plastic bag tax in 2002 – that means that consumers would have to actually purchase bags. It was so high that within weeks of its implementation there was a reduction of 94 percent in plastic bag use. And, now plastic bags are widely unacceptable there.

China:

The country instated a law in 2008 to deal with its growing plastic woes. China made it illegal for stores (small or big vendors) to give out plastic bags for free. It also said that owners should start charging the consumers for the plastic bags and allowed them to keep any profit they made for themselves. End result, after two years of the law implementation, usage of plastic bags dropped by a whopping 50%. That means around 100 billion plastic bags were kept out of the landfills. A simple piece of policy can achieve big results, these countries show that perfectly. The need of the hour in India is strict laws and its enforcement.

38

1.8 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objective of the study clearly defines the purpose for which the study has been carried out. This project has been carried out with the following objectives  To get an overall overview of Indian Plastic Industry  To understand the effects of GST implementation and ban on plastic bags on the Indian Plastic industry  To review the overall position through financial ratio analysis of selected companies of the Indian Plastic Industry  To analyze and interpret the specific financial ratios in order to conduct a comparative study.

39

1.9 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The Indian plastics industry has huge unrealized potential of growth given the presently very low usage levels compared to the global standards. At the same time, this industry in the coming decades has to promote sustainable development by investing in technologies that protects environment and stimulates growth while balancing economic needs and financial constraints. Plastics wastes challenge has to be managed better.

This study will help to comprehend the financial ratios and their analysis of five different companies from the Indian Plastic Sector. The selected companies are Supreme Industries, VIP Industries, Cello Wimplast, Nilkamal Ltd and Plastiblends. It will help us to know the actual position of the company and its performance in the market. The research will help us gain some insightful knowledge about the Indian Plastic Sector.

40

2. LITERATURE REVIEW



‘Recycling in plastic industries in India: an analysis of its barriers through fuzzy-ahp approach', written by Mr. Soham Chakraborty and Mr. S Satapathy and published in the year March 2015.

The goal of this paper is to contribute to the already available literature on plastic recycling and Plastic Recycling practice by means of a Plastic Recycling case study in Indian Plastic Industries. By drawing on the Plastic Recycling literature and the insights obtained from the case study, the present paper aims to identify the most important drivers and barriers that enable or impede Plastic Recycling development in India through an appropriate Fuzzy-AHP model for evaluation.

The findings of the study were that the developments in the field of plastic recycling are very much crucial for the growth of plastic industries in India. There is a large variety of challenges involved during the recycling of plastics in the country. From the analysis of Barriers for Plastic Recycling processes using Fuzzy- AHP methodology it is seen that the technical capability and knowhow is the most important barrier to the recycling of plastics in Indian Plastic industries followed by energy consumption, political and economic factors and so on. The advantage of the analysis presented in this study will help the plastic industries in the country to identify the barriers as a result of realistic representation of the problem and make efforts to combat the negative effects of the barriers during plastic recycling processes. Although plastic recycling is being practiced in the country since long but the industries in India should more often entertain the application of recycled plastic products.

41



‘An analysis of barriers for plastic recycling in the indian plastic industry', written by Ms. Suchismita Satapathy, published in the year March, 2016

This paper aims to develop a new model in which the interrelationship between the barriers can be determined that hinder the implementation of effective recycling processes in the plastic sectors of India.

The results divided the barriers into four clusters and identified the weak and strong barriers and implemented relationships between them. She concluded that globally plastic waste has been steadily increasing. Recycling plastic has received much attention because many companies are using it as a strategic tool to serve their customers and to generate good revenue, but there is a lack of effective recycling units in India. The work of this paper and its results will be helpful in the implementation of an effective and efficient recycling unit for the plastic sector.

42



'Porter’s five forces analysis of the Indian plastic industry', written by Mr. Santana Mandal and published in the year November 2011.

This paper aims to  Identify the key suppliers-their bargaining powers, factors affecting this power  Identify the key buyers-their negotiating & bargaining powers  Identify the new players in plastic industry and probable threat from them.  Identify the substitutes of plastics and possible threats from them  Identify rivalry/competition nature between existing firms in this industry.  Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the above industry

The paper concludes that the plastic industry in India is highly heterogeneous in nature due to the diverse nature and size of firms playing in the field. So far as the porter’s five forces analysis of this industry is concerned, bargaining powers of suppliers is low while that of buyers is high. Entry is difficult and it entails the incumbent to have significant capital to invest if it wants to enter this industry. On the substitute front, there are lot of researches going on and recent anti plastic campaigns have already given way to many new replacements for plastic as seen above, thereby indicating high threat from substitutes. On the internal rivalry context, the rivalry is high and firms often engage in price wars. Its easy for small firms to change prices and increase market share but the large ones finds difficult to switch quickly. On the whole plastics are essential for today’s standard of living and they help in improving the quality of life. It is expected that plastics will continue to grow dynamically.

43

•

'SWOT analysis of Indian plastic industry' written by Mr. Shahid Iqbal and published in the year November 2016

This paper aims to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which can be helpful for putting into perspective what the future can bring for those in the plastic industry.

It was concluded that the plastic Industry has emerged as a leading industrial sector in India. In the history of India's industrial revolution, no industry has taken such great strides as the plastics industry. The plastic sector in India has expanded at 9% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) over the last five years and is the biggest contributor to India's GDP growth. It is estimated that the sector will grow at a rate of 15% per annum in next few years. The Indian industry has the potential to increase considerably. Industry currently provides employment to 3 million people. However, with per capita consumption increasing rapidly, which is likely to reach 12.3 million tons, the sector has potential to generate more employment. High growth in retail packaging, pipes, bulk packaging and agricultural use has triggered the polymer demand. Also, with the huge investments in infrastructure development happening in the recent times, the plastic industry will emerge as a giant in the industrial scenario of India.

44

•

'Challenges and future prospects of plastic money', written by Mr. P. Sathiya Bama and Dr. K.Gunasundari and published in the year July 2016.

The paper focuses on the challenges and future prospects of plastic money in India. It concludes that in the modern day, Indian customers find it easier to make physical payment (credit card or debit card payments) rather than carrying too much cash contributing to the growth of plastic money in the country.

The prevalence of intensifying competition has further fuelled the usage of plastic cards in the country like never-before. Due to major social and technological advancements, the banking landscape is undergoing massive change. The market is seeing increased availability of sophisticated technologies that can enable cashless transactions; however the perceived disadvantages such as the need for high IT investment by various service providers, security concerns, lack of technological awareness and the traditional mindset of Indians who prefer to use physical money seem to outweigh the potential benefits. With the change in technology and the improvement in the payment system has lead to further development in plastic money.

45

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 RESEARCH PROBLEM To get an overview of the Indian Plastic Sector. To study and analyze the financial ratios of the companies from plastic sector, compare them and analyze the market position of the companies.

3.1.1 SAMPLE SIZE Sample size determination is the act of choosing the number of observations or replicates to include in a statistical sample. The sample size is an important feature of any empirical study in which the goal is to make inferences about a population from a sample. In this project five plastic sector companies have been considered for the study.

3.1.2 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN Quantitative Research Design is a formal, objective, systematic process for obtaining quantifiable information about the world, presented in numerical form, and analyzed through the use of statistics. Quantitative research is concerned with numbers, statistics, and the relationships between events/numbers. The previous three year's financial statement and annual reports have been collected analyzed to derive at the key financial ratios of the Company.

46

3.1.3 DATA COLLECTION Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on variables of interest, in an established systematic way that enables one to answer stated research questions, test hypotheses, and evaluate outcomes. The following the data collection methods have been used in this project 1. Primary data 2. Secondary data

Primary data: The data collected through various methods like surveys, observations, physical testing, mailed questionnaires, questionnaire filled and sent by enumerators, personal interviews, telephonic interviews, focus groups, case studies, etc. Secondary data: Secondary data implies second-hand information which is already collected and recorded by any person other than the user for a purpose, not relating to the current research problem. It is the readily available form of data collected from various sources like censuses, government publications, internal records of the organization, reports, books, journal articles and websites and so on. For this project, secondary data has been collected from the following sources in order to study financial position of the company in the Indian Plastic sector 1. Annual reports, financial statements of the company 2. Published research reports, charts, research papers, journal and articles.

47

3.2 ANALYSIS OF DATA

The data analysis of Indian Plastic Sector will be carried out by taking a sample of five companies from the sector, calculating their financial ratios, analyzing and comparing them and arriving at a conclusion. The companies selected from Plastic sector for the analysis are as follows Supreme Industries Ltd.  Cello Wim Plast Ltd.  Nilkamal Ltd.  VIP Industries Ltd.  Plastiblends India Ltd. In order to carry out the analysis, we will first study the introduction of each company followed by calculation of financial ratios and further interpretation of the ratios.

48

3.2.1 INTRODUCTION TO COMPANIES

1. SUPREME INDUSTRIES LTD. Founded in 1942, Supreme is an acknowledged leader of India's plastics industry. Handling volumes of over 3,20,000 tones of polymers annually effectively makes the country's largest plastics processors. Not surprisingly, they also offer the widest and most comprehensive range of plastic products in India.25 advanced plants are powered by technology from world leaders, and complement our extensive facilities for R & D and new product development. In fact, Supreme is credited with pioneering several products in India. These include Cross- Laminated Films, HMHD Films, Multilayer Films, SWR Piping Systems and more. Supreme Industries Limited is India's leading plastic processing company with seven business divisions. The company has forayed into different types of plastic processing in Injection Molding, Rotational Molding (ROTO), Extrusion, Compression Molding, Blow Molding etc. Supreme Industries limited offers wide range of plastic products with a variety of applications in Molded Furniture, Storage & Material Handling Products, XF Films & Products, Performance Films, Industrial Molded Products, Protective Packaging Products, Composite Plastic Products, and Plastic Piping System & Petrochemicals. 2018-19 will see The Supreme Group turnover cross a projected Rs.125 billion (USD 2billion).

49

2. CELLO WIMPLAST LTD Cello Wim Plast Limited was incorporated as a private limited company on October 7, 1988 with Registrar of Companies Maharashtra at Bombay and was converted into a public limited company on July 14, 1993.

Wim Plast is a sister concern of Cello having stakes in thermo ware, molded furniture, writing pens etc. It is a well known name in thermo ware and writing instrument in India, a medium sized professional organization committed to customer satisfaction in individual areas of interests. The company's manufacturing facility is located in Daman and Baddi at Himachal Pradesh.

Cello Thermoware ltd., founded by G.D. Rathod, Chairman, in May 10, 1986, at a small factory in Goregaon, Bombay, with just 60 workers and 7 machines engaged in the manufacture of the finest range of Casserole, or HotPots, as they were later positioned, that the Indian market had ever seen. It is the first & largest manufacturer of branded household products in India, having wide range of plastic molded products

In the year 2004, the Company innovated idea of producing Plastic Extrusion Sheets called Cello Bubble Guard sheets and set up a plant at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh which is the first innovation in the field in India. The other products of the Company has manufacturing units at Daman and Baddi with total installed capacity of 19000 tons and have sound distribution network in the country.

Product range of the company includes:

Wim Plast is currently engaged into manufacturing of plastic molded and extruded articles. The product includes water jugs, house hold trolley, house hold glasses, house hold containers and hot pots.

50

3. NILKAMAL LTD Nilkamal Limited is a plastic products manufacturer based in Mumbai, India. It is the world's largest manufacturer of molded furniture and Asia's largest processor of plastic molded products. Their product range consists mainly of custom plastic moldings, plastic furniture, crates and containers. The company also has a chain of retail stores under the @home brand. Nilkamal was incorporated on 5 December 1985 as Creamer Plastic. The company changed its name to Nilkamal Plastic on 23 August 1990. The company has manufacturing facilities in Samba, , Pondicherry, Barjora, Sinnar, Nashik and Silvassa. The company also has joint manufacturing ventures in Bangladesh (Nilkamal Padma Plastics) and Sri Lanka (Nilkamal Eswaran Plastics). In 2011, the company also began production of mattresses with manufacturing units in Hosur and Dankuni. Nilkamal’s Core Businesses 

Material Handling Solutions



Moulded Furniture



@home, the Mega Home Store Retail Chain



Nilkamal Mattrezzz



Nilkamal Home Ideas, the Home Furnishing Store

51

Manufacturing and Selling Strengths The Company has 8 large manufacturing plants in India: 

North – Samba (Jammu & Kashmir) and Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh)



East - Barjora (West Bengal)



West - Sinnar, Nashik (Maharashtra) and Silvassa (Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli) (2 plants)



South – Pondicherry (Union Territory) and Hosur (Tamilnadu)

The Company has advanced machinery in Injection Molding, Rotational Molding, Vacuum Forming, Polyurethane Injection (of insulation) and capabilities for Blow Molding. Each of these plants has dedicated Tool Rooms. Occupying a massive total constructed area of 1 million sqft; all of Nilkamal’s manufacturing plants are ISO 9001/2008 Certified and practice 6 Sigma manufacturing process. This extensive manufacturing infrastructure is ably supported by our wide and strong sales network of 400 techno-commercial experts, operating through 39 Regional Offices and 41 Warehouses spread across India.

52

4. VIP INDUSTRIES LTD

VIP Industries (VIPIL), incorporated in 1968, is engaged in the business of manufacturing of luggage bags. The company's manufacturing facilities are located at Nashik, Nagpur, Jalgaon, Satara, and Sinnar in Maharashtra and Haridwar in Uttaranchal. The company is also engaged in manufacturing of molded furniture.

The company is engaged in manufacturing of molded luggage (from high–density polyethylene), soft luggage (from nylon, polyester, jupolene, printed polyester) and ABS luggage (from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic) including briefcases, suitcases, handbags, carry bags and vanity cases.

VIP has been promoted by the $200 million DG Piramal Group. The company has a design team, which is constantly focusing on innovating, constantly innovates, exploring new technologies and materials to create luggage of high quality.

VIP owns subsidiaries namely Carlton Travel Goods and Carlton and Blow Plast Retail. Globally the company has a presence in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Russia, Canada, Iceland, Ghana, Malta, Spain, France, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Finland, Greece and Lebanon among others.

VIP Industries Ltd is world's second largest and Asia’s largest luggage maker based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The company manufactures plastic molded suitcases, handbags, briefcases, vanity cases and luggage. It has acquired UK luggage brand Carlton in 2004.

53

It provides travel products, hard and soft-sided luggage, bags, backpacks, duffels, shoulder bags, waist pouches, sling bags, duffel trolleys, vanity cases, office bags and satchels, suitcases, and briefcases. The company offers its products primarily under the VIP, Carlton, Footloose, Alfa, Aristocrat, Sky bags, and Buddy brands. It also manufactures molded furniture under the Modern brand.

VIP Industries Ltd. has more than 8000 retail outlets across India and with a network of over 1300 retailers across 27 countries. With a product range which includes Injection Moulded PP Cases and Furniture, Vacuum formed PC and ABS cases and Soft sided luggage in Nylon, Polyester and EVA material, VIP Industries Ltd has several innovations in product design and technology.

54

5. PLASTIBELNDS INDIA LTD Plastiblends India Limited, promoted by the 'Kolsite Group' is located in the union territory of Daman, to manufacture various types of Master Batches, Compounds, Blends, Alloys, etc. for the Plastics Industry. Plastiblends India Limited is the first Master batch Manufacturing Company in India who has been awarded ISO 9001 Quality Assurance Certification by TUV Bayern, Germany.

Manufacturing unit is based on state-of-the-art technology currently used in the developed countries. All master batches are rigorously subjected to various tests in our quality assurance laboratory equipped with modern test equipments. All production batches are also subjected to process ability tests on standard processing equipments. Technically qualified Plastics Engineers located at convenient centers in different regions of East, West, North & South of India are available to provide prompt technical service to our customers

Plastiblends India Limited produces a large range of standard colors suitable for all major processing methods and compatible with Polyolefin’s like PE, PP, EVA. They also supply universal master batches compatible with various plastics like HIPS, ABS, and Filled PP.

55

REVENUE & PROFIT AFTER TAX OF THE 5 COMPANIES

(Rs. in crore) COMPANY

REVENUE

PROFIT AFTER TAX

2017

4,978.09

379.30

2016

3,326.26

213.10

2015

4,691.38

315.71

2017

427.74

48.57

2016

426.74

45.15

2015

422.63

38.36

2017

2,094.85

118.45

2016

2,003.76

103.89

2015

1,905.04

42.46

2017

1,303.76

75.98

2016

1,231.98

63.41

2015

1,060.09

47.86

2017

609.77

33.03

2016

559.00

37.67

2015

529.93

30.05

SUPREME INDUSTRIES

CELLO WIMPLAST

NILKAMAL LTD

VIP INDUSTRIES

PLASTIBLENDS

56

3.2.2. CALCULATION OF FINANCIAL RATIOS OF 5 COMPANIES

SUPREME

CELLO

NILKAMAL

INDUSTRIES

WIMPLAST

LTD

2017

8.17

6.93

4.18

6.97

2.81

2016

7.13

4.58

2.82

4.41

2.77

2015

7.07

4.76

1.28

4.29

1.84

2017

32.19

36.60

22.40

33.18

18.49

2016

42.37

21.70

16.60

22.32

13.53

2015

26.57

22.00

37.00

28.27

9.65

2017

0.16

0.00

0.12

0.00

0.42

2016

0.31

0.00

0.14

0.04

0.45

2015

0.32

0.00

0.34

0.10

0.13

2017

17.06

12.70

11.10

10.95

11.44

2016

15.49

12.60

11.47

9.25

11.86

2015

15.65

11.80

7.83

7.80

10.65

2017

18.20

21.33

13.01

21.77

10.70

2016

21.00

12.51

7.69

14.15

9.56

2015

13.10

13.25

5.41

16.97

5.84

RATIOS

VIP INDUSTRIES PLASTIBLENDS

PRICE TO BOOK RATIO

PRICE TO EARNINGS RATIO

DEBT TO EQUITY RATIO

OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN

ENTERPRISE VALUE TO EBITDA

57

SUPREME

CELLO

INDUSTRIES

WIMPLAST LTD

INDUSTRIES PLASTIBLENDS

2017

24.41

18.49

16.99

19.03

15.19

2016

17.44

21.09

17.75

18.85

20.44

2015

28.09

21.60

8.62

15.58

19.06

2017

34.47

17.92

15.64

18.58

11.40

2016

25.24

20.48

16.03

18.55

15.13

2015

36.74

20.94

7.12

15.36

16.64

2017

20.35

31.40

15.58

33.41

5.90

2016

13.28

31.80

9.59

20.58

14.61

2015

9.21

30.33

2.89

15.23

11.89

2017

2.86

1.17

1.89

2.10

1.45

2016

2.10

1.44

1.99

2.09

1.43

2015

3.04

1.71

1.94

2.09

1.91

2017

1.38

0.88

0.63

1.22

0.53

2016

1.02

0.59

1.07

1.90

1.78

2015

1.33

0.73

2.03

1.61

2.47

RATIOS

NILKAMAL VIP

RETURN ON EQUITY

RETURN ON CAPITAL EMPLOYED

INTEREST COVERAGE

ASSEST TURNOVER

DIVIDEND YIELD

58

3.2.3 INTERPRETATION OF FINANCIAL RATIOS

1. PRICE TO BOOK RATIO The price-to-book ratio (P/B Ratio) is used to compare a stock's market value to its book value. It is calculated by dividing the current closing price of the stock by the latest quarter's book value per share. A lower P/B ratio could mean that the stock is undervalued. Investors find the P/B ratio useful because the book value of equity provides a relatively stable and intuitive metric that can be easily compared to the market price. PRICE TO BOOK SUPREME

CELLO

NILKAMAL

VIP

RATIO

INDUSTRIES

WIMPLAST

LTD

INDUSTRIES

PLASTIBLENDS

2017

8.17

6.93

4.18

6.97

2.81

2016

7.13

4.58

2.82

4.41

2.77

2015

7.07

4.76

1.28

4.29

1.84

10

8

6 2017 4

2016 2015

2

0 PRICE TO EARNINGS RATIO

SUPREME INDUSTRIES

CELLO WIMPLAST

NILKAMAL LTD VIP INDUSTRIES PLASTIBLENDS

59

 Supreme Industries has the highest Price to book ratio at 8.17 which has remained more or less constant from last two years which means that the stock of the company is overvalued and the investors will have high expectations from the company.  Followed by Supreme Industries, Cello Wimplast and VIP industry take the second and third position respectively by having a P/B ratio of 6.93 and 6.97 which again is a good sign.  Nilkamal Ltd. stands at fourth and Plastiblends at fifth position with least P/B ratio among the five companies. Which indicates that the stocks of Plastiblends are undervalued when compared to the other four companies, which can be a major cause of concern.

60

2. PRICE TO EARNINGS RATIO The price-earnings ratio (P/E ratio) is the ratio for valuing a company that measures its current share price relative to its per-share earnings. The price-earnings ratio is also sometimes known as the price multiple or the earnings multiple. In essence, the priceearnings ratio indicates the dollar amount an investor can expect to invest in a company in order to receive one dollar of that company’s earnings. In general, a high P/E suggests that investors are expecting higher earnings growth in the future compared to companies with a lower P/E. PRICE TO EARNINGS SUPREME

CELLO

NILKAMAL

VIP

RATIO

INDUSTRIES

WIMPLAST

LTD

INDUSTRIES

PLASTIBLENDS

2017

32.19

36.60

22.40

33.18

18.49

2016

42.37

21.70

16.60

22.32

13.53

2015

26.57

22.00

37.00

28.27

9.65

50 45 40 35

30 25

2017

20

2016

15

2015

10 5 0 PRICE TO EARNINGS RATIO

SUPREME INDUSTRIES

CELLO WIMPLAST

NILKAMAL LTD

VIP INDUSTRIES

PLASTIBLENDS

61

 With a Price earnings ratio of 26.57 in 2015 to 42.37 in 2016 and 32.19 in 2017, Supreme Industries first fell by 10 points in 2017 but still it is ahead of it competitors except Cello Wimplast and VIP Industries which have P/E of 36.60 and 33.18. But still the P/E ratio of 32.19 is a good sign indicating that the investors will expect higher returns.  Nilkamal Ltd. stands fourth here with a P/E of 22.40 in the year 2017 from P/E of 37 in the year 2015 which indicates that company might be facing some problems.  At last position is Plastiblends. Though its P/E has increased from 9.65 in 2015 to 18.49 in 2017, but still it is much far from its competitors. Hence investors will not prefer to invest in the company.

62

3. DEBT TO EQUITY RATIO

Debt/Equity Ratio is a debt ratio used to measure a company's financial leverage, calculated by dividing a company's total liabilities by its stockholders' equity. The D/E ratio indicates how much debt a company is using to finance its assets relative to the amount of value represented in shareholders' equity. A high debt-to-equity ratio indicates that a company may not be able to generate enough cash to satisfy its debt obligations. However, low debt-to-equity ratios may also indicate that a company is not taking advantage of the increased profits that financial leverage may bring. DEBT TO

SUPREME

CELLO

NILKAMAL

VIP

EQUITY RATIO

INDUSTRIES

WIMPLAST

LTD

INDUSTRIES

PLASTIBLENDS

2017

0.16

0.00

0.12

0.00

0.42

2016

0.31

0.00

0.14

0.04

0.45

2015

0.32

0.00

0.34

0.10

0.13

0.5

0.4

0.3 2017 2016

0.2

2015 0.1

0 DEBT TO EQUITY RATIO

SUPREME INDUSTRIES

CELLO WIMPLAST

NILKAMAL LTD

VIP PLASTIBLENDS INDUSTRIES

63

 As the debt equity ratio of Cello Wimplast is zero. We can say that the company is not using debt to finance its assests and not taking advantage of its increased profit.  As seen from the above table, VIP Industries and Nilkamal Ltd have acceptable debt equity ratio which means they are managing their funds efficiently. In case of Supreme Industries the ratio is higher which is not a good sign.  Plastiblends has the highest debt equity ratio which means that company may not be able to generate enough cash to satisfy its debt obligations.

64

4. OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN Operating margin should only be used to compare different companies when they operate in the same industry. Operating margin is a measurement of what proportion of a company's revenue is left over after paying for variable costs of production such as wages, raw materials, etc. It can be calculated by dividing a company’s operating income (also known as "operating profit") during a given period by its net sales during the same period. A savvy investor may often track a company’s operating margin over time (perhaps over the past four, eight or twelve quarters) to determine if the company’s margin has historically been consistent or if growth in its operating margin is stable. OPERATING PROFIT SUPREME

CELLO

NILKAMAL

VIP

MARGIN

INDUSTRIES

WIMPLAST

LTD

INDUSTRIES

PLASTIBLENDS

2017

17.06

12.70

11.10

10.95

11.44

2016

15.49

12.60

11.47

9.25

11.86

2015

15.65

11.80

7.83

7.80

10.65

20

15

10

2017 2016 2015

5

0 OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN

SUPREME INDUSTRIES

CELLO WIMPLAST

NILKAMAL LTD VIP INDUSTRIES PLASTIBLENDS

65

 Supreme Industries has the highest operating profit margin ratio among the five companies for all the three years. Which indicates that the company faces less financial risk? Cello Wim plast stands second in this category.  Plastiblends and Nilkamal Ltd have slightly lesser operating profit margin ratios which mean that these companies may face some financial risk.  The ratio of VIP Industries is the lowest which suggests that the Company may pose severe financial risk and it will be difficult to pay the fixed costs as well.

66

5. ENTERPRISE VALUE TO EBITDA

This popular metric is widely used as a valuation tool, allowing investors to compare the value of a company, debt included, to the company’s cash earnings less noncash expenses. It is ideal for analysts and potential investors looking to compare companies within the same industry. Comparison of relative values among firms operating in the same industry is a good way for investors to determine companies with the healthiest EV/EBITDA within a specific sector. A high (low) EV/EBITDA mean the company is potentially overvalued (undervalued).

ENTERPRISE VALUE SUPREME

CELLO

NILKAMAL

VIP

TO EBITDA

INDUSTRIES

WIMPLAST

LTD

INDUSTRIES

PLASTIBLENDS

2017

18.20

21.33

13.01

21.77

10.70

2016

21.00

12.51

7.69

14.15

9.56

2015

13.10

13.25

5.41

16.97

5.84

25

20

15

ENTERPRISE VALUE TO EBITDA 2017

10

2016

2015

5

0

67

 From the above table, in 2015 VIP Industries was the most overvalued company as its EV/EBITDA ratio was the highest. In 2016, Supreme Industries took over VIP. But again in 2017, VIP Industries retained its position.  Cello Wimplast has slightly lesser values than the first two companies. And hence it stands third. Plastiblends also is an undervalued company standing at fourth position here.  Nilakamal Ltd has the lowest EV/EBITDA values for all the years which mean that the investors will consider this company as undervalued.

68

6. RETURN ON EQUITY Return on equity (ROE) is the amount of net income returned as a percentage of shareholders equity. Return on equity measures a corporation's profitability by revealing how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have invested. Net income is for the full fiscal year (before dividends paid to common stock holders but after dividends to preferred stock.) Shareholder's equity does not include preferred shares. The higher the return on equity, the more efficient the company's operations are making use of those funds.

SUPREME

CELLO

NILKAMAL

VIP

RETURN ON EQUITY

INDUSTRIES WIMPLAST

LTD

INDUSTRIES PLASTIBLENDS

2017

24.41

18.49

16.99

19.03

15.19

2016

17.44

21.09

17.75

18.85

20.44

2015

28.09

21.60

8.62

15.58

19.06

30 25 20 2017

15

2016

2015

10 5 0 RETURN ON EQUITY

SUPREME INDUSTRIES

CELLO NILKAMAL LTD VIP PLASTIBLENDS WIMPLAST INDUSTRIES

69

 Supreme Industries has the highest ROE among all the five companies in the year 2015 and 2017. In 2016, Plastiblends had the highest ROE which suggests that these are efficiently managing their funds.  On an average, Supreme Industries has maintained higher ROE, followed by Cello Wimplast, VIP Industries and Plastiblends respectively.  Nilkamal Ltd has the lowest ROE among all the companies. Though it had increased from 8.62 in 2015 to 17.75 in 2016 and the fell to 16.99 in 2017, but still it is left behind by the other four companies, which indicates that the Company is not using its funds efficiently.

70

7. RETURN ON CAPTIAL EMPLOYED

The return on capital employed (ROCE) ratio, expressed as a percentage, complements the return on equity (ROE) ratio by adding a company's debt liabilities, or funded debt, to equity to reflect a company's total "capital employed". This measure narrows the focus to gain a better understanding of a company's ability to generate returns from its available capital base.A lower value of ROCE indicates lower profitability. A company having less assets but same profit as its competitors will have higher value of return on capital employed and thus higher profitability. RETURN ON CAPTIAL

SUPREME

CELLO

NILKAMAL

VIP

EMPLOYED

INDUSTRIES

WIMPLAST

LTD

INDUSTRIES

PLASTIBLENDS

2017

34.47

17.92

15.64

18.58

11.40

2016

25.24

20.48

16.03

18.55

15.13

2015

36.74

20.94

7.12

15.36

16.64

35 30 25 20

2017 15

2016 2015

10 5 0 RETURN ON CAPTIAL EMPLOYED

SUPREME INDUSTRIES

CELLO WIMPLAST

NILKAMAL LTD

VIP PLASTIBLENDS INDUSTRIES

71

 Supreme Industries has succeeded in maintaining higher return on all capital employed among the five companies for all the years. Thus the company’s ability to generate fund through its capital is higher.  Cello Wimplast and VIP Industries stand at second and third position here. These companies also have the ability to generate better funds as compared to Nilkamal Ltd which takes fourth position and has comparatively lesser profitability.  Again Plastiblends has the lowest return on capital employed which means it is difficult for the company to generate funds from its available capital base.

72

8. INTEREST COVERAGE The interest coverage ratio is used to determine how easily a company can pay their interest expenses on outstanding debt. The ratio is calculated by dividing a company's earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) by the company's interest expenses for the same period. The lower the ratio, the more the company is burdened by debt expense.

INTEREST

SUPREME

CELLO

NILKAMAL

VIP

COVERAGE

INDUSTRIES

WIMPLAST

LTD

INDUSTRIES PLASTIBLENDS

2017

20.35

31.40

15.58

33.41

5.90

2016

13.28

31.80

9.59

20.58

14.61

2015

9.21

30.33

2.89

15.23

11.89

35 30 25 20 15

2017 2016

2015 10 5 0 INTEREST COVERAGE SUPREME INDUSTRIES CELLO WIMPLAST NILKAMAL LTDVIP INDUSTRIESPLASTIBLENDS

73

 Cello Wimplast has maintained highest interest coverage ratio. That means it can easily pay the interest expenses on its outstanding debts.  VIP Industries and Supreme Industries have comparatively lesser ratio but still is in a position to pay off its interest expenses.  Nilkamal Ltd and Plastiblends have lower interest coverage ratio which indicates that they may face difficulty in paying off its interest expense on its outstanding debts.

74

9. ASSEST TURNOVER RATIO

Asset turnover ratio measures the value of a company's sales or revenues generated relative to the value of its assets. The Asset Turnover ratio can often be used as an indicator of the efficiency with which a company is deploying its assets in generating revenue. If a company has a higher fixed asset turnover ratio than its competitors, it shows the company is effectively using its fixed assets to generate sales better than its competitors.

SUPREME

CELLO

NILKAMAL

VIP

ASSEST TURNOVER

INDUSTRIES

WIMPLAST

LTD

INDUSTRIES PLASTIBLENDS

2017

2.86

1.17

1.89

2.10

1.45

2016

2.10

1.44

1.99

2.09

1.43

2015

3.04

1.71

1.94

2.09

1.91

3 2.5 2 1.5

1

2017

0.5

2016

0

2015

75

 The highest asset turnover ratio is of Supreme Industries for all the years, suggesting that the company is generating higher revenues by deploying its assets efficiently.  Followed by Supreme Industries, VIP Industries is also efficiently deploying its assets by maintaining a constant asset turnover ratio of 2.1. Nilkamal Ltd also has succeeded similarly.  Plastiblends stands fourth and Cello Wimplast at fifth suggesting that these companies are not generating revenue relative to the value of their assets when compared to its competitors.

76

10. DIVIDEND YIELD

A financial ratio that indicates how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its share price. Dividend yield is represented as a percentage and can be calculated by dividing the dollar value of dividends paid in a given year per share of stock held by the dollar value of one share of stock. A company with a high dividend yield pays its investors a large dividend compared to the fair market value of the stock. This means the investors are getting highly compensated for their investments compared with lower dividend yielding stocks. SUPREME

CELLO

NILKAMAL

VIP

DIVIDEND YIELD

INDUSTRIES

WIMPLAST

LTD

INDUSTRIES

PLASTIBLENDS

2017

1.38

0.88

0.63

1.22

0.53

2016

1.02

0.59

1.07

1.90

1.78

2015

1.33

0.73

2.03

1.61

2.47

3

2.5

2 2017

1.5

2016 2015

1

0.5

0 DIVIDEND YIELD

SUPREME INDUSTRIES

CELLO NILKAMAL LTD VIP PLASTIBLENDS WIMPLAST INDUSTRIES

77

 VIP Industries and Supreme Industries pay their investors a large dividend compared to other companies as their dividend yield ratio is highest.  Nilkamal Ltd and Plastiblends also pay fair dividends to their investors but lesser than the above two companies.  Cello Wimplast has the lowest dividend yield ratio as compared to other companies which indicates that its pays lesser dividends to its investors.

78

4. CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

With the help of financial ratio analysis of the five companies, we can understand the market position of these companies and their stand in the Indian Plastic Sector. Supreme Industries Ltd has higher ratios as compared to the other four companies. Supreme Industry’s Price to book, Price to earnings ratio, Return on euity, return on capital employed, dividend yield, asset turnover

ratio, all of these are better when

compared to the other four companies. And thus we can state that Supreme Industries Ltd tops the list when it comes to profitability and performance of the company. When compared with respect to the financial ratios, VIP Industries and Cello Wim Plast Ltd are more or less on the same profitability and performance level. We can give VIP Industries second and Cello Wim Plast third position respectively in the list of five. On the last i.e. the fifth position is Plastiblends India Ltd which has low interest coverage ratio, low return on equity and return on capital employed when compared to the to its four competitors. Hence Plastiblends India Ltd has to seriously look do something to boost its current position and uphold a strong position in the plastic industry.

79

5. CONCLUSION The Plastic Industry contributes directly or indirectly to many other industries in the country. The various key sectors in India such as FMCG, Construction, Automation, Electronics Textiles, Healthcare, etc have observed growth and economic development due to the momentous contribution made by Plastic Industry to these sectors. The plastic processing sector is supported by the plastic machinery sector and the petrochemical sector, developments of both of which are coupled together. The plastic processors are building capacities for the service of the domestic market as well as the overseas market.

The plastic industry, inspite of having a great potential growth faces many challenges in case of unadvanced technology, environmental myths, high instability in feedstock prices and inadequate infrastructure. Noteworthy efforts will have to be done to realize the real potential of this industry and to conquer all the challenges.

Indian Government in order to enhance the infrastructure sector is taking every possible initiative with investments of Rs. 25 lakhs over the next three years in railways, roads and infrastructure shipping. Plastics plays an essential role in the sectors like irrigation, sanitation management, water, building and construction, transport, power and retail have been encouraged through the various products like cables, wires, pipes, water proof membranes, wood PVS composites and other sectors. Consequently, higher investments in these sectors will force the demand for plastics.

80

PROJECT II : FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS : DIGITAL PAYMENT SECTOR

81

1. INTRODUCTION 1. 1 INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL PAYMENTDigital payments refer to electronic consumer transactions, which include payments for goods and services that are made over the internet, mobile payments at point-of-sale (PoS) via smart phone applications (apps), and peer-to-peer transfers between private users.

Digital payment is a way of payment which is made through digital modes. In digital payments, payer and payee both use digital modes to send and receive money. It is also called electronic payment. No hard cash is involved in the digital payments. All the transactions in digital payments are completed online. It is an instant and convenient way to make payments.

If we talk about cash payments, you have to first withdraw cash from your account. Then you use this cash to pay at shops. Shopkeeper goes to the bank to deposit the cash which he got from you. This process is time-consuming for you and also for the shopkeeper. But in digital payments, the money transfers from your account to the shopkeeper’s account immediately. This process is automatic and neither you nor the shopkeeper is required to visit the bank.

Digital payment methods are often easy to make, more convenient and provide customers the flexibility to make payments from anywhere and at anytime. These are a good alternative to traditional methods of payment and speeden up transaction cycles. Post demonetization, people slowly started embracing digital payments and even small time merchants and shop owners started accepting payments through the digital mode.

82

ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE PAYMENTS

In the Age of High Technology cash strives to endure the competition with electronic money, because more and more people prefer to have virtual wallets. It is clear, electronic payment systems have a range of pros in comparison to traditional banking services:

1. Time savings Money transfer between virtual accounts usually takes a few minutes, while a wire transfer or a postal one may take several days. Also, you will not waste your time waiting in lines at a bank or post office.

2. Expenses control Even if someone is eager to bring his disbursements under control, it is necessary to be patient enough to write down all the petty expenses, which often takes a large part of the total amount of disbursements. The virtual account contains the history of all transactions indicating the store and the amount you spent. And you can check it anytime you want. This advantage of electronic payment system is pretty important in this case.

3. Reduced risk of loss and theft You cannot forget your virtual wallet somewhere and it cannot be taken away by robbers. Although in cyberspace there are many scammers, in one of the previous articles we described in detail how to make your e-currency account secure.

83

4. Low commissions If you pay for internet service provider or a mobile account replenishment through the UPT (unattended payment terminal), you will encounter high fees. As for the electronic payment system: a fee of this kind of operations consists of 1% of the total amount, and this is a considerable advantage.

5. User-friendly

Usually every service is designed to reach the widest possible audience, so it has the intuitively understandable user interface. In addition, there is always the opportunity to submit a question to a support team, which often works 24/7. Anyway you can always get an answer using the forums on the subject.

84

DISADVANTAGES OF ONLINE PAYMENTS

1. Restrictions Each payment system has its limits regarding the maximum amount in the account, the number of transactions per day and the amount of output.

2. The risk of being hacked If you follow the security rules the threat is minimal, it can be compared to the risk of something like a robbery. The worse situation when the system of processing company has been broken, because it leads to the leak of personal data on cards and its owners. Even if the electronic payment system does not launch plastic cards, it can be involved in scandals regarding the Identity theft.

3. The problem of transferring money between different payment systems Usually the majority of electronic payment systems do not cooperate with each other. In this case, you have to use the services of e-currency exchange, and it can be timeconsuming if you still do not have a trusted service for this purpose. Our article on how to choose the best e-currency exchanger greatly facilitates the search process.

4. The lack of anonymity. The information about all the transactions, including the amount, time and recipient are stored in the database of the payment system. And it means the intelligence agency has an access to this information. You should decide whether it's bad or good. In general, the advantages of electronic payment system outweigh its disadvantages and they have bigger opportunities comparing with ones of traditional wire transfers.

85

1.2 INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN DIGITAL PAYMENT SECTOR

Payment and settlement systems in India are covered by the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act), legislated in December 2007 and regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and the Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems,

India has multiple payments and settlement systems, both gross and net settlement systems. For gross settlement India has a Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system called by the same name and net settlement systems include Electronic Clearing Services (ECS Credit), Electronic Clearing Services (ECS Debit), credit cards, debit cards, the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) system and Immediate Payment Service. The Reserve Bank of India is doing its best to encourage alternative methods of payments which will bring security and efficiency to the payments system and make the whole process easier for banks.

In the case of India, the RBI has played a pivotal role in facilitating e-payments by making it compulsory for banks to route high value transactions through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and also by introducing NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) and NECS (National Electronic Clearing Services). Behavioral patterns of Indian customers are also likely to be influenced by their internet accessibility and usage, which currently is about 32 million PC users, 68% of whom have access to the net. However these statistical indications are far from the reality where customers still prefer to pay "in line" rather than online, with 63% payments still being made in cash. Epayments have to be continuously promoted showing consumers the various routes through which they can make these payments like ATM’s, the internet, mobile phones and drop boxes. 86

Due to the efforts of the RBI and the (BPSS) now over 75% of all transaction volume are in the electronic mode, including both large-value and retail payments. Out of this 75%, 98% come from the RTGS (large-value payments) whereas a meager 2% come from retail payments.

In line with government reforms, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed Indians to adopt cashless transactions, giving the digital payments sector a significant boost. The Digital India programme is a flagship programme of the Government of India with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. “Faceless, Paperless, Cashless” is one of professed role of Digital India.

87

The sector is experiencing an unprecedented jump in growth since November last year, when the government demonetized high currency bills (Rs 500 and 1000) – which represented 86 percent of India’s cash in circulation. By February this year, digital wallet companies had shown a growth of 271 percent for a total value of US$2.8 billion (Rs 191 crore). Prior to the sudden developments in 2016 enabling the massive disruption in India’s payments landscape, a Google-BCG Report estimated that India’s digital payments industry would grow to US$500 billion by 2020, contributing to 15 percent of the country’s GDP. An important driver of this growth is India’s vast smart phone user base – the second largest in the world.

88

DIGITAL PAYMENT DIVISION

The Digital India programme is a flagship programme of the Government of India with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. “Faceless, Paperless, Cashless” is one of professed role of Digital India. Promotion of digital payments has been accorded highest priority by the Government of India to bring each and every segment of our country under the formal fold of digital payment services. The Vision is to provide facility of seamless digital payment to all citizens of India in a convenient, easy, affordable, quick and secured manner.

Hon’ble Finance Minister, in his budget speech announced several activities for the promotion of digital payments including setting a target of 2,500 crore digital payment transactions in FY 2017-18, through Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Aadhaar Pay, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) and Debit Cards.

Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has been entrusted with the responsibility of leading this initiative on “Promotion of Digital Transactions including Digital Payments”. MeitY is working on various strategies, ideation with multiple stakeholders including Banks, Central Ministries/Departments and States, to create an ecosystem to enable digital payments across the country.

MeitY is working on strengthening of Digital Payment infrastructure and creating awareness through promotions of digital payments with all the stakeholders to achieve Government’s vision of making citizens of this country digitally empowered. Citizens have been provided multiple options to make digital transactions.

89

MAJOR NEW DIGITAL PAYMENT MODES IN INDIA

Online or mobile wallets • Online wallets are used via the internet and through smart phone applications. • Money can be stored on the app via recharge by debit or credit cards or net banking. • Consumer wallet limit is US$ 311 (Rs 20,000) per month or US$1,554 (Rs 100,000) per month after KYC. The merchant wallet limit is US$777 (Rs 50,000) per month after self-declaration and US$1,554 (Rs 100,000) after KYC verification. • Facilitates P2P fund transfers. Prepaid credit cards • Pre-loaded to individual’s bank account. It is similar to a gift card; customers can make purchases using funds available on the card – and not on borrowed credit from the bank. • Can be recharged like a mobile phone recharge, up to a prescribed limit. 90

Debit/RuPay cards

• These are linked to an individual’s bank account. • Can be used at shops, ATMs, online wallets, micro-ATMs, and for e-commerce purchases. • Debit cards have overtaken credit cards in India. In December 2015, there were more than 630 million debit cards as compared to 22.75 million credit cards. AEPS

• The Aadhaar Enabled Payment System uses the 12-digit unique Aadhaar identification number to allow bank-to-bank transactions at PoS • AEPS services include balance enquiry, cash withdrawal, cash deposit, and Aadhaar to Aadhaar fund transfers. USSD • Stands for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data based mobile banking. • Linked to merchant’s bank account and used via mobile phone on GSM network for payments up to US$77.68 (Rs 5,000) per day per customer. UPI • The United Payments Interface (UPI) envisages being a system that powers multiple bank accounts onto a single mobile application platform (of any participating bank). • Merges multiple banking features, ensures seamless fund routing, and merchant payments. • Facilitates P2P fund transfers. 91

1.3 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

92

Entry of global players into India's digital payment space is expected to grow the segment by about five-fold to USD 1 trillion by 2023, investment banking firm Credit Suisse said in a report. Digital payments (in India) currently aggregate less than USD 200 billion, of which mobile is still at just USD 10 billion in financial year (FY) 2018 E (estimated) . We estimate that the total digital payment market in India will grow to USD 1 trillion by FY23E led by the growth in mobile payments.

It said that in just four months of launching its payments app, Google is already processing the same number of digital transactions as Axis Bank (4th highest among banks in India) and has resulted in unified payment interface (UPI) transactions increasing about eight times.

The digital payments will further explode when the most popular application in India, WhatsApp, integrates a payments button, the report said. Share of cash transactions in India are estimated to account for 70 per cent of total transactions in value terms and 90 per cent in volume.

Payment integration in to popular apps in India will drive the digital payment market in India to USD 1 trillion over the next five years. Digital payments in India are soaring on the back of the entry of global tech giants that are acting as aggregators for retail transactions.

The report by research analysts Ashish Gupta, Sunil Tirumalai, Kush Shah, Anurag Mantry and Viral Shah cited trend of digital payments in China as example. Digital payments in China leapfrogged to over USD 5 trillion in the past four years on the back of rising mobile and data penetration. 93

Data usage for 300 million Indian smart phone users has jumped to 5-10 GB per month from 1GB in the last year. The surge in digital payments in China was triggered by its integration into e-commerce and social platforms, which now have a 95 per cent market share the report said. It said that unlike China, mobile payments in India are being built on public infrastructure like UPI and Aadhaar that allow open-architecture and an inter-operable payment system to evolve.

With 800 million bank accounts now linked to mobile, existing bank accounts should be mobile-transaction ready. We believe that the top four banks (SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI, Axis) are better placed as the aggregators are expected to look to tie up with these franchises, given they account for about 50-70 per cent of non-cash transactions. The Credit Suisse report said that there is also no loss of customers for the banks even as they transact on the platforms of these aggregators, and the banks would gain access to customer data.

94

CHALLENGES FACED BY THE DIGITAL PAYMENTS SECTOR IN INDIA

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has said that PBs will “revolutionize” in India, without posing a competitive threat to existing banks. And the decision to grant licenses to one in four applicants represents a pretty unusual degree of latitude from the central bank. Further, the RBI has stated that the entities that didn’t receive approval this time (along with many others) could be accepted in future licensing rounds, as it intends to grant more licenses "virtually on tap." So the government clearly views PBs as a powerful weapon in its financial inclusion arsenal. But the impact of these banks is not guaranteed, and they will face the same hurdles as any financial services provider that aims to serve the country’s low-income, rural communities. If it were simple to serve these customers, India’s previous Business Correspondent efforts – not to mention its experience with private services like MPESA, which captures almost every payment in countries like Kenya and Tanzania – would have met with more resounding success. Let’s take a look at 10 challenges PBs will face – and how they can live up to the government’s ambitious goals. 95

FINDING THE RIGHT LEADERSHIP The Payments Bank concept is perhaps the first of its kind anywhere in the world – a hybrid of banking and distribution with a running thread of technology. Thus far, business leaders from the fast-moving consumer goods and technology sectors have led teams in the payments space in India. But with payments now married to banking – a granular business of managing distribution points prudentially – it will be critical to have the right set of skills steering PBs’ efforts. Without the right mix of people, they may become a juggernaut hurtling towards failure.

DESIGNING THE RIGHT PRODUCTS Remittances generate profits – indeed, India’s Business Correspondent initiative survived largely because banks outsourced remittance services to them. But because of these competing services, PBs will need to explore a “remittance plus” model, creating a differentiation between themselves and existing Business Correspondents. This essentially means investing heavily in customer-centric product design, thus capturing face-to-face and remote transactions by offering innovative products delivered via mobile phone.

MOVING BEYOND CASH IN/CASH OUT How well a PB is positioned with its network of cash-in/out points or low-cost and techheavy branches will undoubtedly determine its initial footprint in the hinterlands. But cash-in/out alone will not be enough, as these banks’ sustainability and scale will ultimately depend on customers’ adoption of digital cash for making transactions. Just cash-in/out services and no (or negligible) transactions would result in inactive digital 96

accounts, whereas PBs’ whole value proposition is based on developing a revenue model around actual payment transactions. Critical drivers, therefore, lie in PBs’ ability to leverage the e-commerce ecosystem in India, which is slated to cross the USD $16 billion mark by the end of 2015.

PULLING CUSTOMERS OUT OF ‘CASH IN KING’ MENTALITY The challenge of moving toward e-payments isn’t limited to infrastructure: For PBs to succeed, cash-obsessed Indians will need to migrate to digital alternatives, which will require behavioral changes above and beyond technological hurdles. Though a few ewallet players and online marketplace providers like Paytm, Foodpanda, Shopclues, etc., have been experimenting in this space in recent years – albeit mainly in urban centers’ – for PBs, the task will be herculean. Ultimately, they will need a concerted ecosystem effort and additional policy support to spur the growth of interlinkages and missing markets.

SHIFTING INTERACTIONS TO ATMS AND MOBILE According to the World Bank, just 39 percent of all account holders in India own a debit or ATM card, and as mentioned, mobile banking has struggled to take off – especially in rural areas. Yet compared to branch banking, ATM and especially mobile banking are far less expensive per transaction, not to mention more convenient for customers. PBs have a great potential to change the patterns of interactions between customers and banks by making banking transactions via ATMs and mobile phones self-assisted, seamless, convenient and foolproof over the payments-based architecture in India.

97

ENABLING PAYMENTS ECOSYSTEM PARTNERSHIPS

Effective partnerships will be crucial for running a digital payments system – particularly at cash-in/out points and merchant/retail points. Facilitating these relationships is often the role of special intermediary services providers like Pep Intermediacy in Kenya and Uganda, which manages float and distribution points for major supermarkets and players like Airtel, M-PESA and KCB Mattani Bank, and Kopo-Kopo, which helps to manage the merchant ecosystem in Kenya. India will need to put similar service providers in place to make PBs’ partnerships successful.

AVOIDING THE GOVERNMENT BUSINESS TRAP Government business, in the form of government to person (G2P) payments, may seem like low-hanging fruit to many PBs. But they should resist the temptation to make G2P services a core part of their business case, or else they’ll run the risk of encountering the same sustainability challenges that Business Correspondents have faced in the past in India. With government commissions for G2P services subject to frequent and unpredictable decreases, depending on government business could bring the sustainability of PBs into question.

WORKING WITH REGULATORS PBs will have to comply with RBI regulations and prudential banking norms, maintaining prescribed bank ratios like statutory liquidity, cash reserve and capital adequacy, and following rules involving financial fraud, Anti Money Laundering & Combating Financial Terrorism (AML-CFT), etc. And the need to comply with these regulations is one of the factors that many analysts blame for mobile money’s struggles in India, which has

98

required mobile money players like Vodafone and Airtel to work through partner banks to offer payment services. With the important role PBs play in the government’s financial inclusion drive, and the degree to which the RBI is clearly invested in their success, hopefully it will ensure that these requirements won’t deccelerate PBs’ momentum.

EMBRACING THE RISK AND INNOVATION PBs’ success in India will largely depend upon how well they are able to break the traditional banking mentality and innovate. For instance, India’s banks – particularly those in the public sector – have often heavily invested in government securities and bonds, as these instruments are perceived to be safer than credit-market investments. But with Prime Minister Modi calling upon Indian bankers to take a more proactive approach to banking, it’s clear that PBs must avoid this lazy and risk-averse mindset and embrace new thinking and innovation. Even though they may not have the option, right now, of offering credit products, PBs should embrace a forward-looking mindset in exploring payments innovations – and even eventually offering credit services directly or in partnerships. LOCATING PATIENT CAPITAL Even though they are allowed to raise deposits, this may not be sufficient for PBs to fund their expansion. And with cutthroat competition, acquiring customers will be a substantial challenge – as will maximizing revenue per customer. So the PB industry will need deep-pocketed, risk-taking investors – and they must be in it for the long term. The mere fact that the RBI issued so many initial licenses clearly indicates that not all are expected to stay alive. So investors must be willing to remain patient, at least for three years (or until they attain a net worth of USD $80 million), at which point PBs will be allowed to have an IPO and get listed on the Indian Stock Exchange. 99

SECURITY ISSUES IN DIGITAL PAYMENT

Concerns around the security of transactions and identity theft still prevent thousands from moving over to the digital payment platforms. Some 66% of the respondents in our survey said that security concerns remain their biggest worry. A cultural and mindset change is required to bring people on board and make them feel comfortable with digital payments.Experts insist digital payments platforms are fully secure provided the necessary precautions are taken by the user. Cash can get stolen and you will have to bear the loss. However, if there is a fraud related to your debit/credit card then you have a recourse. As per regulatory guidelines, the banks will investigate the case when you report a fraud and you will get compensated in case it's not because of lapses on your part. Most popular e-wallet platforms also comply with the latest security specifications and have added further layers of security, say experts. However, the existing machinery for protection of consumers requires a huge revamp before consumers become comfortable with digital payments. As more and more digital transactions move into the yet unregulated fintech space, proper fraud prevention, including device fingerprinting and consumer protection mechanisms, needs to be put in place. There is a definite need to improve the quality of the safeguards. However, service providers are taking steps for added protection. Freecharge, for instance, recently launched an e-wallet protection plan (at no added cost) for all its users, where the underlying wallet balance of all the customers will be insured up to a limit of Rs 20,000, as long as the user is transacting at least once a month. Other ewallet platforms are also expected to follow suit.

100

ROLE OF THE RBI IN ENCOURAGING E-PAYMENTS

As the apex financial and regulatory institution in the country it is compulsory for the RBI to ensure that the payments system in the country is as technologically advanced as possible and in view of this aim, the RBI has taken several initiatives to strengthen the e-payments system in India and encourage people to adopt it. The interface has been developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organization for all retail payments in the country. The UPI seeks to make money transfers easy, quick and hassle free. 

The Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 was a major step in this direction. It enables the RBI to "regulate, supervise and lay down policies involving payment and settlement space in India." Apart from some basic instructions to banks as to the personal and confidential nature of customer payments, supervising the timely payment and settlement of all transactions, the RBI has actively encouraged all banks and consumers to embrace e-payments.



In pursuit of the above-mentioned goal the RBI has granted NBFC’s (NonBanking Financial Companies) the permission to issue co branded credit cards forming partnerships with commercial banks.



The Kisan Credit Card Scheme was launched by NABARD in order to meet the credit needs of farmers, so that they can be free of paper money hassles and use only plastic money.



A domestic card scheme known as RuPay has recently been started by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI),promoted by RBI and Indian Banks Association (IBA), inspired by Unionpay in China, which will be promoting the use of cards ie. "Plastic money". Initially functioning as an NPO, RuPay will focus on potential customers from rural and semi-urban areas of India. RuPay

101

will have a much wider coverage than Visa, MasterCard or American Express cards which have always been used for card-based settlements. 

The NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) introduced by the Government will ensure rural employment in turn ensuring that the employees get wages. Each employee will have a smart card functioning as his personal identification card, driver’s license, credit card which will also function as an electronic pass book, thus familiarizing the rural populations with e-payments.[2]



However, the Indian banking system suffers from some defects due to certain socio-cultural factors which hampers the spread of the e-payments culture even though there are many effective electronic payment channels and systems in place. Despite the infrastructure being there nearly 63% of all payments are still made in cash. A relatively small percentage of the population pays their bills electronically and most of that population is from urban India-the metropolitans.

Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has been entrusted with the responsibility of leading this initiative on “Promotion of Digital Transactions including Digital Payments”. MeitY is working on various strategies, ideation with multiple stakeholders including Banks, Central Ministries/Departments and States, to create an ecosystem to enable digital payments across the country.

MeitY is working on strengthening of Digital Payment infrastructure and creating awareness through promotions of digital payments with all the stakeholders to achieve Government’s vision of making citizens of this country digitally empowered. Citizens have been provided multiple options to make digital transactions. A dedicated ‘Digidhan Mission’ has been setup in MeitY for building strategies and approaches in collaboration with all stakeholders to promote digital payments and create awareness.

102

Meity has taken several initiatives to promote digital payments and achieve the targets in a mission mode. Few of them are outlined below.

(a) Digital payment transactions target have been assigned to Central Ministries with high citizen touch points, Public Sector and Private Sector Banks to achieve the target as announced in the Budget speech for FY 2017-18.

(b) Training and workshops on digital payments awareness with several Ministries have been conducted and planned ; MoRTH, MoHFW, Ministry of Agriculture, MSME, Department of Post, Ministry of Power, Panchayti Raj, Ministry of Defense (c) Promotional materials on publicity of digital payments including IEC materials is being shared with stakeholders to create awareness and sensitization

(d) Digital Payment dash board has been created to track and monitor the progress of digital transactions achieved by Banks

(e) Promotion and awareness approach framework on digital payments has been shared with Banks

(f) BHIM cash back schemes for merchants

(g) BHIM Aadhaar merchant incentive schemes

(h) BHIM referral bonus schemes for Individuals

103

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 To get an overall overview of digital payment system in India especially in rural areas

 To study the consumer perception of digital payment modes.  To study about the changes in payment methods from cash to online banking post demonetization.

 To study the impact of demonetization on digital payment companies.

1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The project on digital payment sector is carried out to gain in-depth knowledge of the digital payments modes and methods prevailing in India. This project will give us an insight on how the traditional payment method of cash is gradually transforming into online payment methods through e-wallets and net banking. It will help us to study about the impact of demonetization on digital payment companies. Also it will help us to know the status of digital payment in rural India. Through this project, we can understand the digital payment platforms currently prevailing in India and their position in the market, which will further help to choose the better payment option. Also we can learn the drawbacks and the challenges faced by the Indian digital payment sector.

104

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

•

'Demonetization and its impact on adoption of digital payment: opportunities, issues and challenges’ written by Dr. Dhani. Shanker Chaubey and Mr. Piyush Kumar and published in the year June-17

This paper intended to know the importance of digital payment after Demonetization as perceived by the people of India, to assess the people trust and confidence in digital payment system after Demonetization, to assess the uses pattern and nature of transaction done by the people after Demonetization and to identify the factors of digital payment after Demonetization.

From this paper, the authors concluded that the digital payment had given relief and force to learn digital transaction after demonetization. People adopted technology slowly, but don’t wanted to pay extra for digital transaction. However, people of India faces money problems during demonetization they suffer with no cash. In addition, for this medium like paytm helps them.

105

•

‘Impact of demonetisation on cashless transaction’ written by Ananya Mitra, Sonali Rath and Jayant Kumar Nayak and published in the year July-17

The paper aimed to study the usage of various mode of electronic payment, to study the effect of demonetization on cashless transaction in India and to suggest measures to successfully promote cashless India.

The findings of the study were that the decline in digital transactions in two successive months goes against the government’s objective of a “less cash” economy. During the scarcity of funds people preferred to use debit and credit cards at point of sale terminals and mobile banking but these are also the two to be disposed of quickly. RTGS and Paper Vouchers usage fell drastically after demonetization when compared against pre demonetization period. The value of digital transactions in January and February taken together dropped below that of combined figure of September and October, before demonetization was announced. To counter the negative effect and encourage digital transactions, many private banks in the month of March, reintroduced charges on transactions of cash deposits and withdrawals beyond the stipulated number of free transactions. The step yielded positive result.

106

•

'Demonetization: impact on cashless payemnt system ' written by Mr. Manpreet Kaur, Assistant Professor: SGTB Khalsa College, Anandpur Sahib and published in the year January-17

The paper intended to study Role of Demonetization and to Examine Status of Electronic Payment System.

The study concludes that the cashless transaction system is reaching its growth day by day , as soon as the market become globalised and the growth of banking sector more and more the people moves from cash to cashless system. The cashless system is not only requirement but also a need of today society. All the online market basically depends on cashless transaction system. The cashless transition is not only safer than the cash transaction but is less time consuming and not a trouble of carrying and trouble of wear and tear like paper money. It also helps in record of the all the transaction done. So, it is without doubt said that future transaction system is cashless transaction system.

107

•

‘Study of consumer' perception of digital payment mode', written by Mr. Shamsher Singh and Mr. Ravish Rana and published in the year December 2017

The objective of the study was to find out the customer perception and impact of demographic factors on adoption of digital mode of payment. This study has made an attempt to understand customer perception regarding digital payment.

It was found that demographic factor except education does not have much impact on the adoption of the digital payment. Anova computation supported this finding as there was no signification difference is perceived by the respondents on the basis of gender age, profession and annual income. It was only education level of the respondents where signification difference is perceived by the respondents. It indicates that adoption of digital payment is influenced by the education level of the customer. If a person has studied beyond matriculation and internet savvy, he or she will be inclined to use the digital payment mode. It was also found that in the areas/region where education level is high such as Delhi NCR and other metropolitan area, the possibility of acceptance of digital payment is much higher. The growth of users of Smartphone and internet penetration in such area also facilitated the adoption of digital payment.

108



‘Digital payments for rural india - challenges and opportunities', written by Shakir Ali, Wasim Akhtar, and S. K. Safiuddin and published in the year June,2017

The paper aims to study the challenges and opportunities of digital payments in rural India.

The findings of the study were to reduce the digital divide and increasing the awareness in the rural public, to ease the complexities and enable end-of-day settlement process for the merchants (As small retailers and merchants need rotation of cashflow in quick turnaround time for their business operations), to reduce the transaction charges over the digital payments and discourage cash transactions. ICT infrastructure plays a vital role in successful adaptation of digital payments and hence there is intrinsic need to improve and offer requisite infrastructure for digital payments.

109



'Black swan effect of demonetisation on digital mode of payment in india ' written by Professor Manisha Rajdhyaksha and Satyendra Jaiswal and published in the year April 2017

The main purpose of this qualitative study is to study and position the concept of black swan event like demonetization on the Indian digital mode of payment sector. This study showed how a black swan event like the recent demonetization has far-reaching repercussions and implications for an emerging sunrise sector like the Digital Payment.

The Indian Digital Payment sector has shown agility and dynamism in their innovativeness and adaptability to survive and thrive in this black swan event. Moreover, the Indian Digital payment sector adopted novel approaches on multiple

parameters

like

business

processes,

product

and

or

service

development, reaching hitherto untouched markets, creating market niches, technological excellence, and creating world-class services in this payment arena. The proactive approach of Government of India to instigate this demonetization and create enabling environment through positive policies will jump-start this sector exponentially and boost their competitiveness. With India ready to take its place in world order as an economic superpower, Digital Payment sector will bring in new business models with disruptive technologies. And black swan event of demonetization can unexpectedly become a catalyst for the growth and sustainability of this sector.

110



A study on demonetization and its impact on cashless transactions, written by Mr. K. C. Balaji and published in the year March 2017.

The Objectives of the Study were-

 To study the history of demonetization across the world and in India.  To study the impact of demonetization on cash less transactions.

It was concluded that the growth of the cashless transaction system is reaching new heights. People tend to move to cashless transactions. It is right to say that the cashless system is not only a requirement but also a need for the society. But on the other hand, the risk of cyber-crime is very much higher as almost all the cashless transactions are done over internet. So proper and complete awareness must be made to the people to keep their debit and credit cards safe and to use the internet banking and the digital wallet in a most secure way. In order to punish the cyber criminals, the properly structured cyber police force with high end forensic labs and technology must be created.

111



'Impact and importance of cashless transaction in india', written by Ms.Pranjali A. Shendge, Mr. Bhushan G. Shelar and Asst.Prof. Smitaraja S. Kapase and published in the year April 2017.

The aim behind this Research was ·

To know what a Cashless Transaction means.

·

Impact and importance of Cashless Transaction System.

·

Analyze the future trend of Cashless Transaction.

It was concluded that the benefits of this move have now started trickling in with more and more people switching to digital modes of receiving and making payment. India is gradually transitioning from a cash-centric to cashless economy. Digital transactions are traceable, therefore easily taxable, leaving no room for the circulation of black money. The whole country is undergoing the process of modernization in money transactions, with e-payment services gaining unprecedented momentum. A large number of businesses, even street vendors, are now accepting electronic payments, prompting the people to learn to transact the cashless way at a faster pace than ever before.

112



'Opportunities and challenges of e- payment system in india', written by Mr. Sujith T S, Julie C D and published in the year 2017.

The Objectives of the study were: ·

To know the different modes of e-payment.

·

To know the opportunities and challenges of e- payment system in India.

·

To identify the future of digital payment system in India.

It was concluded that Electronic payment refers to the mode of payment which does not include physical cash or cheques. It includes debit card, credit card, smart card, ewallet etc. E-commerce has its main link in its development on –line in the use of payment methods, some of which we have analyzed in this work .The risk to the online payments are theft of payments data, personal data and fraudulent rejection on the part of customers. Therefore, and until the use of electronic signatures is wide spread, we must use the technology available for the moment to guarantee a reasonable minimum level of security on the network.

113



'Emerging digital economy – a cashless perceptive in india', written by Mr. Parikshit Agarwal and published in the year 2017.

It aims to study the initiative taken by the government towards Digital Economy in India, challenges that will affect the implementation of Digital Economy and the Impact of Digital Economy on India’s GDP.

It was concluded that the Government initiative to promote digital economy has provided the use of latest digital infrastructure for quick delivery of financial service thereby reducing time span for consumption of goods and services which ultimately adds towards GDP of the country. The mainstream of Indian economy lies in rural areas, where 70% population is largely depended on agriculture. If they are digitally connected their socio-economic conditions will improve through development of non-agricultural economic activities which will be possible only by providing them digital infrastructure and financial literacy. The government move towards digital economy is a dynamic move which require working all factors simultaneously like literacy, infrastructure, overall business environment, regulatory framework, etc

114

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 RESEARCH PROBLEM To understand and learn about the different digital payment platforms currently prevailing in India and their position in the market. To study about the status of digital payment in rural India. To study about the impact of demonetization on digital payment companies. To learn the drawbacks and the challenges faced by the Indian digital payment sector.

3.1.1 SAMPLE SIZE: Sample size determination is the act of choosing the number of observations or replicates to include in a statistical sample. The sample size is an important feature of any empirical study in which the goal is to make inferences about a population from a sample. In this project five digital payment companies have been considered for the study. And hence the sample size is one.

3.1.2 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN Quantitative Research Design is a formal, objective, systematic process for obtaining quantifiable information about the world, presented in numerical form, and analyzed through the use of statistics. Quantitative research is concerned with numbers, statistics, and the relationships between events/numbers.

115

3.1.3 DATA COLLECTION: Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on variables of interest, in an established systematic way that enables one to answer stated research questions, test hypotheses, and evaluate outcomes. The following data collection methods have been used in this project

1. Primary data 2. Secondary data

Primary data: The data collected through various methods like surveys, observations, physical testing, mailed questionnaires, questionnaire filled and sent by enumerators, personal interviews, telephonic interviews, focus groups, case studies, etc.

Secondary data: Secondary data implies second-hand information which is already collected and recorded by any person other than the user for a purpose, not relating to the current research problem. It is the readily available form of data collected from various sources like censuses, government publications, and internal records of the organization, reports, books, journal articles, and websites and so on. For this project, primary data as well as secondary data has been collected from the following sources in order to study the current trends, opportunities, challenges in the Digital payment sector 1. Questionnaires 2. Published research reports, charts, research papers, journal and articles. 116

3.2 ANALYSIS OF DATA

The central government’s decision to demonetize Rs500 and Rs1000 notes has given a major push to e-wallets and the recently launched unified payment interface (UPI), an interoperable system launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which will allow peer-to-peer and peer-to-entity payments. E-wallets like Paytm, Freecharge have been quick to capitalize on this and have been aggressively advertising to promote the usage of digital wallets as a way of moving towards a cashless economy.

Ola sent out notifications to its passengers saying – ‘Recharge Ola Money now and you don’t have to worry about carrying any notes, whether 500 or 1000. Ride cashless’.

Mobikwik also is providing cash pick up facility to its customers for some days. A person can click on ‘cash pick up’ on the Mobikwik app, a representative of the wallet will come to them to exchange Rs500 and Rs1000 notes and will directly load it in their e-wallet. This means, one doesn’t have to go to bank or automated teller machines (ATM’S) at all.

117

Big Bazaar kept all its stores open on Tuesday up to 11:50 pm and popular cafe Social too was accepting Rs500 and Rs1000 notes until midnight. The fact that the trend has always been low value-high volume transactions in the online space is likely to change in future.

For the study of this project, analysis has been made on the following five companies/ewallets-

1. PAYTM Paytm is an Indian e-payment and e-commerce brand based out of Delhi NCR, India. Launched in August 2010, it is a consumer brand of parent company One97 Communications. The name is an acronym for "Payment through Mobile". The company employs over 13,000 employees as of January 2017 and has 3 million offline merchants across India. It also operates the Paytm payment gateway and the Paytm Wallet. In a short span of time, it has scaled to over 250 Mn registered users. One of the biggest beneficiaries of demonetization has been Paytm as people have moved to cashless payments owing to cash crunch.

118

Within 12 days, Paytm has witnessed over 7 million transactions worth Rs 120 crore a day. The mobile wallet is now four months ahead of its target and crossed $5 billion GMV sales. Now wherever we go, whether it’s small shops or a big store, we see a Scanning code on wall with “Paytm logo” which says PAYTM KARO. Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), which is an industry term for estimating the total worth of goods sold through a digital platform, for Paytm was $3 billion last year.

Paytm is registering over 7 million transactions worth Rs 120 crore in a day as millions of consumers and merchants across the country try mobile payments on the Paytm payment platform for the first time. Offline transactions now contribute to over 65 per cent of the overall business from 15 per cent about six months ago. They are also working on expanding our merchant network by 150,000 additional merchants.

Mobile payment transaction value in India is also likely to register over 150 per cent CAGR and cross Rs 2,000 trillion by FY 2021-22 from just over Rs 8 trillion as of FY 2015-16. Taglines like “Ab ATM nahi, Paytm karo” “cash is so yesterday” are doing the rounds.

119

2. MOBIKWIK

MobiKwik is an Indian company founded in 2009 that provides a mobile phone based payment system and digital wallet. Customers add money to an online wallet that can be used for payments. In 2013 the Reserve Bank of India authorized the company's use of the MobiKwik wallet, and in May 2016 the company began providing small loans to consumers as part of its service. In November 2016, the company reported having 1.5 million merchants using its service and a user base of 55 million customers.

In April 2015, MobiKwik was used by 15 million users and claimed to be adding one million new customers every month. In a partnership with Cash Care, MobiKwik began providing small loans between 500–2,500 Indian rupees to customers in May 2016.In

November 2016,

120

MobiKwik had over 1.5 million merchants using its service and 55 million users.

Mobile wallet company MobiKwik witnessed an over 40 percent increase in app downloads in less than 18 hours of the demonetization of the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. Following the 2016 Indian banknote demonetization in November 2016, MobiKwik realized a 400% increase in financial transactions using the service by late December, 2016.

Additionally, user traffic and merchant queries went up by 200 per cent among its over 35 million users. This has prompted the mobile wallet company to revise its business targets to now achieving a gross merchandise value of $ 10 billion by 2017. As part of the demonetization offering, MobiKwik has introduced a new feature where e-commerce players can ask for payment via “MobiKwik on delivery” since cash on delivery has become a non-option for many.

121

3. UPI & BHIM

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India facilitating inter-bank transactions. The interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and works by instantly transferring funds between two bank accounts on a mobile platform.

Pre-demonetisation It remained a slow-starter. According to NPCI, the number of UPI transactions touched 1.22 lakh in September 2016.Some banks launched their own UPI apps, too. Though many banks have made a mention about UPI in their annual reports, only a few have given numbers on UPI (see info graphics).

122

Post-demonetization Then came demonetization, and the number of UPI-based transactions shot up. The launch of the UPI-based BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) app on December 30, 2016, by NPCI gave a further thrust to the payment platform. RBI data put the volume of UPI transactions at three lakh, 20 lakh and 42 lakh during November, December and January, respectively. UPI usage seems to have gained further traction with the number of transactions crossing the one-crore mark in the last two months. UPI is currently being offered by 52 banks. Recently, NPCI stated that the number of BHIM app downloads had crossed 1.6 crore. BHIM had an active customer base of 40 lakh as of June-end. With the UPI completing a year in operation in about a fortnight, it is to be seen how the common user and merchant establishments, including private and government agencies, take it forward.

123

4. PHONEPE

PhonePe is a Fin-Tech company headquartered in Bangalore, India. Founded in December 2015, it provides online payment system based on Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which is a new process in electronic funds transfer launched by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

It is licensed by the Reserve Bank of India for issuance and operation of a Semi Closed Prepaid Payment system with Authorization Number: 75/2014 dated 22 August 201 PhonePe is one of the best applications for the shopping. Offers like, refer and earn program, 100% cash back on first UPI transaction, on fifth UPI transaction 50%, for first bill payment 100% cash back in the wallet. There are so many other offers as well. Everyone should have this application, as it is friendly and it is having so many good features that we all expect in current time like one of the best is Split Bills. Lastly, we can keep track in the mailbox as well as in the application for our expenses with full detailed information.

124

The service which was acquired by Flipkart in April 2016 has also extended its offline merchant network, especially in the last nine months, riding on the ‘cashless economy’ wave sweeping the nation. At present, over 25,000 offline merchants accept PhonePe payments. While peer-to-peer payments and bill recharges generate maximum volumes on PhonePe, the service also intends to get into the selling of financial products, and wealth management in the near future. PhonePe rival Paytm ventured into the NBFC space with Paytm Payments Bank earlier this year.

125

5. FREECHARGE

FreeCharge is

an e-commerce website

provides online facility

to

recharge

headquartered any prepaid

mobile

in Gurgaon.

It

phone, postpaid

mobile, DTH & Data Cards in India. On 8 April 2015, Snapdeal acquired Freecharge in what is being referred to as the second biggest takeover in the Indian e-commerce sector so far, after the buyout of Ibibo by rival MakeMyTrip, and the biggest Venture Capital exit in India to date. According to The Economic Times, the deal is expected to be anything around US$400 to US$450 million. On 27 July 2017 Axis Bank acquired FreeCharge for $60 million. Within the first 24 hours of the announcement of demonetization, the wallet loads of Snapdeal-owned mobile transactions platform Freecharge grew 12 times and has been increasing by the same average since then.

Within the first 24 hours, wallet loads grew by 12x versus the 30 days average before. The number of people downloading the Freecharge app, registrations for mobile wallet, transactions on third party merchants -- are all growing by 10-15 times on a per day average basis. Demonetisation has given a boost to the cashless society and people are finally seeing the value of commerce, logistics and payments being integrated. Freecharge is also going to offer digital utility payments on your doorstep soon.

126

Apart from above, below are the names of some more digital payments companies/ewallets-

1. Airtel money 2. Citrus Pay 3. HDFC PayZapp 4. ICICI pockets 5. JioMoney 6. Ola Money 7. Citi Master Pass

127

3.2.1 DIGITAL PAYMENTS IN RURAL INDIA

In both urban and rural areas, online financial transactions, e-commerce activities as well as digital payments still lag considerably, despite demonetization and the drive to promote digital payments over the last one year.

Rural India lags behind urban areas in not just Internet penetration but also in Internet access for online financial transactions due to lack of electricity and poor network quality, a study by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and market research firm Kantar IMRB said. In both urban and rural areas, online financial transactions, e-commerce activities as well as digital payments still lag considerably, despite demonetization and the drive to promote digital payments over the last one year, the report said, adding that the situation was worse in rural areas. Only 16% of rural users access the Internet for financial transactions, while in urban areas 44% users access the Internet for this purpose, according to the report. A lot of these payments are peer to peer, and therefore there is a multiplier effect. So this has picked up in urban areas but the required critical mass has not been built in rural areas. Moreover, rural users are not continuously online in real time but switch off the Internet for long periods. Lack of electricity to charge devices, poor network quality and affordability of Internet service packs are the reasons for such behavior and unless this trend is reversed, usage purposes will remain skewed and off take of digital payments will remain

128

restricted, the report said. “Connectivity, and more importantly quality, of connectivity is a question mark in rural areas. As of December 2017, India had 481 million Internet users, an increase of 11.34% from a year earlier. Of this, urban India has 295 million Internet users and rural 186 million. While rural India saw Internet usage grow at 14.11% year-on-year, compared to urban India which grew at 9.66%, this was mainly due to a low base effect as the total number of Internet users in rural India is still critically low, the report points out. It expects the Internet user base in the country to grow to 500 million by June 2018. As far as frequency of Internet usage is concerned, 182.9 million urban users access the Internet every day, as against 98 million users in rural areas. This usage pattern is closely related to connectivity, quality of service and affordability. Among the urban population, online communication is the top activity with 86% of users accessing the Internet for this purpose, followed by entertainment (85%) and social networking (70%). In rural India, however, entertainment stood out as the most popular Internet activity for 58% of the population surveyed, followed by online communication (56%) and social networking (49%). CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd is a special purpose vehicle set up by the ministry of electronics & IT to oversee implementation of the CSC scheme and ensure delivery of essential public utility services, social welfare schemes, and healthcare to citizens through these centers. Infrastructure needs to be made a lot better and services need to be more affordable to achieve the desired growth in Internet usage in rural areas. For the purpose of the study, Kantar IMRB collected data from 60,000 individuals from different demographic segments across 170 cities and from 15,000 individuals across 750 villages.

129

CONSUMER PERCERPTION TOWARDS DIGITAL PAYMENTS IN RURAL AREAS

The survey carried out by me on consumer perception towards digital payment received 85 respondents. While answering to the question on digital payment in rural areas, many of them gave similar reasons for the failure of digital payments in rural areas. Some of the reasons put forth by the respondents are as mentioned below-

 Absence of proper infrastructure and illiteracy

 Poor network connectivity in rural areas

 Lack of awareness about digital payments in rural areas

 Security is the major concern of these people

 Adoptability and convenience issues

 Sudden changes take time to be implemented completely

130

3.2.2 CONSUMER PERCEPTION TOWARDS DIGITAL PAYMENT MODES I had carried out an online survey on ‘Consumer Perception towards Digital payment Modes’ through Google questionnaire forms, which received 87 respondents. Here is the list of the questions asked in the questionnaire 1. Name 2. Age 3. Gender 4. Occupation 5. Which mode of payment do you frequently use? 6. If online banking, then why? 7. How often do you use digital payment modes to make online payment of bills and purchases? 8. For which of the transactions mentioned below, do you prefer to use digital payment modes. 9. How will you rate the convenience in the use of digital payment modes? 10. How much do you think are digital payment modes secured? 11. Do you think security is a major concern as some people are still using traditional methods? 12. Has your usage of digital payment modes increased post-demonetization? 13. Do you think demonetization has helped in the promotion & acceptance of digital payment modes? 14. Digital payment modes are still not preferred much in rural areas. Please comment on this. 15. Comment on 'India taking a step on the road to cashless economy'.

131

All the above question were answered by the 87 respondents, results of the same are discussed below-

As seen from the above graph, the most of the population makes use of cash. Debit/credit card, online banking combinable. Only a 10% of the population makes use of online payment.

132

If you prefer online banking, then please state the reason.

Majority of the people use online banking to save their time, followed by faster transfer of funds. Avoid standing in the queue is also one of the reasons. Half of the population is attracted towards the discounts offered by the digital payment companies. Very use the same for recording their transactions.

133

Only 27 % of the population always uses digital payment modes, and it mostly younger age group between 15 to 30 years, followed by 44% who uses it frequently. 24 % of the population uses it only when they are in a hurry or fall short of money.

134

As we can see most frequently it is used for recharge, fund transfer and online shopping. Comparatively lesser people use it for payment of electricity and other bills.

135

As we can see that 83% of the population feel s that digital payment modes are secured but there are still 4% who feel that they are still not at all secured.

136

Thus we can say that demonetization has impact of digital payment modes as 67% population claims that their use of digital payment modes has increased post demonetization.

137

Digital payment has surely been benefited by demonetization as claimed by 85 % of the population.

138

When asked to comment on ‘India taking a step ahead on the road of cashless economy, many similas responds were received which are as follows Cashless economy is not possible in India due to the dominance of traditional methods  Completely not using cash will also not be possible as the same is required while making payments to small vendors  Many feel that India should review its infrastructure policies and adopt strong and secured network connections  Some of them give it a definite support and claim that it will be a great start for transparent economy.  Some of them like the concept of cashless society and claim that 20 years down the line, India can become a cashless economy

139

3.2.3 CHANGES IN PAYMENT METHODS FROM CASH TO ONLINE BANKING POST DEMONETIZATION.

The adoption rate of online platforms was high during the demonetization period, but it plateaued out as soon as cash became available in the system.

When the Modi government banned high denomination notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8 last year, removing an overwhelming amount of cash from the economy, people had to willy-nilly fall back on plastic or online transactions. The fact that 86 per cent of the cash available in the system was sucked out. But once cash was back in circulation, those who earlier dealt mostly in cash went back to doing so.

The PCI was formed under the aegis of Internet and Mobile Association of India in 2013 to cater to the needs of the digital payment industry. During November, December 2016 and January 2017, online transactions were at their peak. In October 2016, debit card transactions stood at Rs 21,941 crore and those of credit cards at Rs 29,942 crore. Post-demonetization, in December 2016, debit card transactions jumped to Rs 58,000 crore and those of credit card were at Rs 31,150 crore.

However, in August 2017, 10 months after the note ban, debit and credit card transaction stood at Rs 36,000 crore each, having come down substantially from the heights they achieved, but not falling back to the pre-demonetization lows.

140

After the cash flow in the system eased, small kirana shops stopped transacting through online payment channels, because they did not want to take a tax number or a Goods and Services Tax number. They do not have the wherewithal to pay taxes and the government needs to incentivize merchants, otherwise small and medium enterprises are going to go back to cash mode.

Security and trust in payment systems was something all stakeholders need to work on together. Online transactions are bound to grow over a period of time, but in a country which overwhelmingly ran on cash; it may be difficult to do a quick digitization.

141

3.2.4

IMPACT

OF

DEMONETIZATION

ON

DIGITAL

PAYMENT

COMPANIES.

Over the past twelve months, demonetization has attracted mixed reviews, depending on the analyst’s lens. While a few businesses may have been impacted in the short to medium term, digital payments companies stand out as one of the most significant beneficiaries of the move. Post demonetization, there has been a marked reduction in the resistance towards digital payments, and this medium should continue to see sustained adoption going forward.

One of the talking points of the digital payments story has been the phenomenal growth witnessed by new age instruments such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), prepaid payment instruments (PPIs), Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS), along with well-established ones such as National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and cards.

142

Digital payment companies have seen a substantial jump in their business as a result of the

government’s

measures

towards

promoting

cashless

transactions

post

demonetization last year. These firms are likely to further consolidate their business with more incentives for digital transactions.

143

In the year after demonetization, digital transactions have grown considerably. Indeed, disruptions in the digital space have not only revolutionized the way we manage our finances, they have also made contactless and cashless transactions the preferred choice of many among us. And, with digital wallets, quick response (QR) codes, near field communication (NFC) technology, sound wave systems, virtual cards, unified payment interface (UPI) and Aadhaar Pay offering top-notch secure payments options, the smart phone has become the most sought after all-in-one device.

Official statistics indicate an 80% increase in the value of digital transactions in 2017-18, with the total amount expected to touch Rs 1,800 crore in the wake of the impetus provided by demonetization.

144

The value of digital transactions till October this year, at Rs 1,000 crore, was nearly equal to that for the whole of 2016-17. It was a continuation of a trend, with June, July and August registering Rs 136-138 crore transactions on an average, according to the ministry of information technology.

Interestingly, the volume of digital transactions rose in March and April (Rs 156 crore in both months) when the effects of demonetization in terms of lack of cash had begun to wear off. Thereafter, the monthly average of Rs 136-138 crore indicates a steady pattern even as the value is rising.

The report, shared with the finance standing committee of Parliament, shows significant increases in average daily transactions across all platforms, such as UPI-BHIM, IMPS, M-wallet and debit cards, since November last year, when PM Modi announced demonetization.

There has been progress in establishing the 'Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile trinity', with 118 crore mobiles, a similar number of Aadhaar numbers and 31 crore Jan Dhan accounts.

145

146

Since November 2016, there has been a 221% increase in volume of transactions and 118% increase in value of transactions in the non-tax receipt portal," the government said. In close proximation to Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani's recent statement that the government had saved around $9 billion by eliminating frauds in benefit payments, the government said direct benefit transfer had resulted in savings of Rs 57,029 crore up to 2016-17.

There has been a big increase in e-toll payments from Rs 88 crore in January 2016 to Rs 275 crore in August 2017 but the number of tags remains low at 6 lakh till September 2017. There has been a strong growth in volume and value of BHIM-UPI transactions. The value rose from Rs 101 crore in November 2016 to Rs 7,057 crore in October 2017.

Mobikwik had 3-3.5 crore users in the pre-demonetisation days and a year after note ban it has 6.5 crore. The company also witnessed a sharp rise in transactions from one million to three million within a year.

Digital transactions have grown. But the key thing is that a lot of stepping stones for future adoption have been laid down -- like the BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) app by the government. Demonetisation was the shock that forced people to move to online channels.

147

FACTORS THAT HAVE DRIVEN THE RISE IN DIGITAL PAYMENTS OVER THE LAST 12 MONTHS:

1. Embedding of offline space in the business growth strategy Offline space has evolved into the most recent battlefield for payment service providers. Acquiring banks have deployed almost 29 lakh POS terminals across the country, up by almost 95% from last year. 3 This space has also attracted the attention of UPI and PPI players, and many of them have developed innovative solutions to assist large merchant outlets, micro-merchants, cash on delivery payment facilitators of ecommerce firms, etc., in accepting payments seamlessly over mobile phones. Customers facing issues with cash availability post the note ban began to experiment with these digital payment modes.

2. Building of ecosystem around digital payments Quite a few players rolled out multiple solutions allied with digital payments, which further helped in their adoption. A notable few were: 

Integration of enterprise resource planning (ERP) of corporates with the UPI solution for real-time management information system (MIS) updates



Disbursement of instant loans based on the footprint generated by digital payments

3. Boost to interoperability One of the most significant changes in the payments landscape is the push towards interoperability, with instruments such as UPI allowing transfers between 55 banks, independent of the acquirer payment service provider mobile app.The increasing 148

adoption of the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), Bharat QR and interoperability guidelines for PPI players will lend a further push to seamless, secure and interoperable payments.

4. Promotional efforts by players

Several payment processing firms and FinTech companies leveraged demonetisation to penetrate the market. In an effort to expand their market share, quite a few of them offered loyalty points, instant cashbacks and referral rewards to users. While some may have doubts about the long-term sustainability of such offers, the promotional efforts definitely provided an impetus to users considering a switch to digital payments.

The way forward The growth streak of digital payments is likely to continue in the future. The next push to the adoption of digital payments could come from relatively slow adopters such as the rural economy and the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) sector. Government incentives such as discounts on digital GST payments and set-up of accelerator programmes will provide an added boost. A few specific use cases may emerge in the space of business to business (B2B) payments, Electronic Clearance Service (ECS) mandates, equated monthly instalments (EMIs), person to government payments (P2G) in smart cities, etc. These are likely to have a positive impact on transaction volume size going forward.

149

4. CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

An upshot of demonetization was that the digital modes of payments picked up sharply. After demonetization, there has been a significant emphasis on digital modes of payment. The Government of India and the Reserve Bank have initiated a series of measures, some of which are temporary, to promote movement from cash to non-cash modes of transactions. They include, (i) Reduction in the merchant discount rate (MDR) and point of sale (POS) fees; (ii) Monetary incentives in the form of discounts and prizes; (iii) Service tax relief on MDR for small transactions; (iv) Waiver of charges for small value transactions under Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) based *99# platform; (v) Broadening Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) reach by enhancement of limits; (vi) Introduction of a new category of ppis; (vii) Permitting banks to issue ppis to a larger set of entities; and (viii) Permitting National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch (a) the common app for UPI; and (b) National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) system.

150

The government also announced that it would ensure that transactions fee/MDR charges associated with payment through digital means shall not be passed on to consumers. These measures are encouraging migration of consumers from cash to digital modes of payments. After the announcement of demonetisation, digital activity levels were low in the initial weeks as people were busy depositing/exchanging SBNs. However, in December 2016, digital payment activity increased alongside progressive remonetisation. The usage statistics show that the y-o-y growth for major modes of electronic payments was good in October 2016, mainly on account of festive season. The continuance of that high growth with a further pick up in some components from November to January 2017 was a positive fallout of demonetisation. However, the pace of growth moderated somewhat in February 2017.

151

GROWTH IN SELECT ELECTRONIC MODES OF PAYMENTS (y-o-y growth in per cent) Oct-

Nov-

Dec-

Jan-

Feb-

2016

2016

2016

2017

2017

Volume

16.2

23.3

39.0

38.0

34.5

Value

37.6

38.3

40.8

60.2

49.5

Volume

-1.1

23.0

58.4

52.7

20.2

Value

2.9

8.6

13.0

19.3

0.8

Volume

116.7

89.6

157.2

177.7

150.4

Value

150.7

135.9

186.6

196.7

184.2

Volume

53.0

30.8

58.3

19.8

-0.9

Value

89.8

76.3

116.7

22.8

54.2

Category

NEFT

CTS

IMPS

NACH

Source: RBI Bulletins and Press Releases on Electronic Payment Systems Representative Data

152

The recent pick-up in digital payment activity is better reflected in the sequential growth in the months following demonetisation. The pattern of digital transactions in February 2017 over November 2016 shows that the growth rates surged in both value and volume terms compared with the corresponding period of last year for most electronic modes of payment, even as there was some decline in the use of digital payments after December 2016.

RECENT GROWTH IN DIGITAL MODES OF PAYMENTS (Volume in million, Value in ₹ billion)

Change (%)

CATEGORY Nov-16

Dec-16 Jan-17

Feb-17

Feb-17

Feb-16

over

over

Nov-16

Nov-15

Volume

123

166

164

148

20.4

10.4

Value

8808

11538

11355

10878

23.5

14.3

71583

69376

69159

73397

2.5

3.5

87

130

118

100

15.3

18.0

5419

6812

6618

5994

10.6

19.2

62236

52395

55873

59677

-4.1

1.1

Volume

36

53

62

60

65.2

25.1

Value

325

432

491

482

48.5

23.2

NEFT Average ticket size (₹ ) Volume Value CTS Average ticket size (₹ )

IMPS

153

Average ticket size 8982

8183

7870

8071

-10.1

-1.4

Volume

0.3

2.0

4.2

4.2

1346.1

-

Value

0.9

7.0

16.6

19.0

2001.2

-

3150

3565

3995

4577

45.3

-

(₹ )

UPI Average ticket size (₹ )

Volume

0.007

0.102

0.314

0.225

3091.9

Value

0.007

0.104

0.382

0.357

4789.4

-

1037

1015

1215

1589

53.2

-

Volume

206

311

266

212

3.3

3.9

Value

352

522

481

391

11.1

-5.6

1714

1679

1812

1844

7.5

-9.2

Volume

59

88

87

78

32.8

4.3

Value

13

21

21

19

41.9

15.2

224

242

241

239

6.8

10.4

USSD Average ticket size (₹ )

Debit and Credit Cards at POS &

Average ticket size (₹ )

PPI # Average ticket size (₹ )

154

While it is important that efforts be made for increasing acceptance of digital payments, it is equally vital to ensure that the digital payments are safe and secure. It has been the constant endeavour of the Reserve Bank to enhance security features of currency notes to maintain confidence in India’s paper currency. Similarly, there is a need to constantly review and ramp up security features of digital payments to maintain and enhance trust of its users, especially, given the low levels of literacy in India. In this context, the Report of the Committee on Digital Payments (Chairman: Shri Ratan Watal) submitted in December 2016 has also underlined, inter alia, the need for enhancing the resilience of the Indian payments and settlement systems; and strengthening the consumer protection framework in digital payments.

155

5. CONCLUSION

Digital payment is extremely useful for the people who belong to the class where cash is considered the most suitable medium. If this technology grows to the point that every store accepts exchange of money through wallets, then it would remove the need to carry cash or cards. The three most popular digital Wallets available in Indian market are MobiKwik, Paytm and PayU. Besides private actors like Paytm, Mobikwik, and FreeCharge, the Indian government has been aggressively pushing several digital payment applications, including the Aadhaar Payment app, the UPI app, and the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The new apps aim to ease the transfer of funds across India, especially in rural communities, and more importantly, seek to facilitate a behavioral change towards the greater adoption of cashless services. As such, the digital payments industry is fast becoming a highly attractive destination for foreign investors keen to establish a foothold in India. Multiple factors and parallel institutional and behavioral trends seem to be powering India’s transition towards a less-cash economy. The rapid penetration of smartphones and spread of internet connectivity on mobiles, digital payment services provided by non-banking institutions and the rise of the fintech sector, consumer expectations of one-touch payments, and progress in regulatory governance and tax breaks, have altogether shaped India’s payments landscape in favor of digital solutions.

156

The Indian banking sector has been growing successfully, innovating and trying to adopt and implement electronic payments to enhance the banking system. Though the Indian payment systems have always been dominated by paper-based transactions, epayments are not far behind. Ever since the introduction of e-payments in India, the banking sector has witnessed growth like never before.

157

PROJECT III : SOCIAL RELEVANCE : NGO VISIT

158

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A non-profit organization or an NGO is an organization that operates independently of any government, typically one whose purpose is to address a social or political issue. NGO are homes to the elderly, children and the ones with some kind of disability. There are 728 Old Age Homes in India today. Detailed information of 547 homes is available. Out of these, 325 homes are free of cost while 95 old age homes are on pay & stay basis, 116 homes have both free as well as pay & stay facilities and 11 homes have no information. A total of 278 old age homes all over the country are available for the sick and 101 homes are exclusively for women. Kerala has 124 old age homes which is the maximum in any state.

We the students of GNVS Institute of Management had the privilege to visit one of the NGO’s in Mumbai and experience the joy of giving. On

10 th March’18, we visited

Missionaries of Charity in Airoli, Mumbai. This NGO is home to 130 elderly ladies and 30 staff members. We got an insight into what exactly happens at an NGO. We carried out some activities, interacted with the ladies over there, also interacted with the sisters and the caretakers of the NGO.

This project highlights the background and history of the ladies being admitted in the NGO, health and other issues faced by these ladies, medical treatment provided to them, extra activities done by them. It also briefs about the project activities carried out by us at the NGO. Helping them in any possible way and bringing smiles on their faces were our only objective

159

1. INTRODUCTION TO NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION (NGO) A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) is a legally established organization, which works independently from any government. NGOs work for the good causes like eradicating poverty, providing education etc. They are Non Profit Organizations that means they do not get profits out of their organizations. Govt gives grants worth crores to Non-Governmental Organizations. They receive funds from people and from foreign countries too.

ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF NGOS IN INDIA Non Governmental Organizations, or NGOs, as they are called in common parlance, are organizations which are involved in carrying out a wide range of activities for the benefit of underprivileged people and the society at large. As the name suggests, NGOs work independently, without any financial aid of the government although they may work in close coordination with the government agencies for executing their projects. NGOs take up and execute projects to promote welfare of the community they work with. They work to address various concerns and issues prevailing within the society. NGOs are not-for-profit bodies which means they do not have any commercial interest. NGOs are run on donations made by individuals, corporate and institutions. They engage in fundraising activities to raise money for carrying out the work they do. Ever since independence, NGOs have played a crucial role in helping the needy in India, providing aid to the distressed and elevating the socio-economic status of millions in the country. NGOs are composed of experts with years of experience in executing social welfare activities. Before rolling out a project, detailed analysis of the situation is done and possible solutions are contemplated. Collaboration with civic agencies and other government agencies (at district, state and even national level at times) is done to carry out the work.

160

NGOs not only go on the ground to address these issues, they also undertake massive campaigning activities to generate awareness on these issues. In today’s time, NGOs are efficiently leveraging the power of social media to disseminate information about their work and reach more and more people.

IMPORTANCE OF NGOs The Importance of NGOs in India India has made rapid progress in the socio-economic sphere in the last seven decades. Millions have been brought out of poverty, life expectancy has shot up, literacy rate has almost tripled and people have better access to healthcare services. However, given the vastness of India, both in terms of demography and area, and its socio-cultural diversity, millions are still bereft of a decent life. Even today, numerous people struggle to get basics such as health, shelter, education and nutritious food. The benefits of India’s economic progress have not been uniform in nature. There is rampant economic inequality. This is where NGOs come into the picture. Their job is to plug the gaps left by the government by improving the lives of the most marginalised communities. In India, NGOs undertake a variety of activities, most of which are aimed at improving the socio-economic status of communities with limited means. From providing direct benefit (like distributing nutrition feed to malnourished children) to enabling and empowering people (like making a community realise the importance of sending their children to school), the work of NGOs has a far-reaching impact in helping underprivileged and deprived people march ahead in life. The work done by NGOs goes a long way in nation building. With the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Act mandating 2% spend by large corporate on social issues, NGOs have the potential to touch millions of more lives through their work.

161

Over the years, NGOs have streamlined their operations and enhanced their scales. Functioning of established NGOs is akin to big corporate organizations – there are welldefined KPIs and targets to meet. NGOs need to be transparent in their work and ensure that the funds raised benefit those for whom they are intended. This is a good trend, larger and more accountable NGOs will be able to deliver more effectively and efficiently, making best use of resources. NGOs are already proving to be agents of change. In times to come, they will continue to play a significant role in helping large sections of the Indian society come out from the quagmire of poverty and distress. NGOs in India work for a wide range of causes. Some such causes include: 1.

Child rights

2.

Poverty

3.

Social Injustice

4.

Environment Conservation

5.

Human Rights

6.

Care for elderly people

7.

Women Empowerment

8.

Wildlife Conservation

9.

Animal Rights

10.

Sanitation and Hygiene

11.

Humanitarian Relief

12.

Health and Nutrition

13.

Literacy and Education

162

POSITIVE SIDE :-

 A lot of NGOs are working on the areas where government is not doing much. For example Goonj NGO is providing clothes and other basic amenities to millions of poor. Many such kind of organizations are giving quality education to street children, providing water facility in the remotest areas along with many other good causes.  With the help of these organizations, development programs can happen fasterand efficiently. And this will help the government a lot.  In many cases, government is working with NGOs to solve local problems.

NEGATIVE SIDE : Though India has more than 30 lakh NGOs as of 2017, only approx 3 lakh organizations are submitting the financial accounts. Govt’s funds to NGOs are not accounted and audited. This is resulting in misuse of funds and fake NonGovernmental Organizations.  If NGOs really working well, all the social challenges in India would have eliminated by now. Forget eliminating problems, there is no satisfactory development in India according to HDI (Human Development Index) report.

163

FACTS : Supreme court ordered Central Government to audit Non-Governmental Organizations and to terminate the licenses of organizations that are not submitting their financial accounts.  India has vast no. of NGO compared to other countries.  The no. of NGOs increased in the time of 1960s as people felt that the government projects are not contributing in developing of deprived sections of India.  International NGOs started around the year 1839. After the establishment of ‘United

Nations

Organization’ in

the

year

1945,

the

phrase

‘Non

Government Organizations’ became popular.

164

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY

The Missionaries

of

Charity

is

a

Roman

Catholic(Latin

Church) religious

congregation established in 1950 by Mother Teresa, now known in the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta. In 2012 it consisted of over 4,500 religious sisters. Members of the order designate their affiliation using the order's initials, "M.C." A member of the congregation must adhere to the vows of chastity, poverty, obedience, and the fourth vow, to give "wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor." Today, the order consists of both contemplative and active branches in several countries.

Missionaries care for those who include refugees, former prostitutes, the mentally ill, sick

children, abandoned

children, lepers,

people

with

AIDS,

the aged,

and convalescent. They have schools run by volunteers to educate street children and run soup kitchens as well as other services according to the community needs. These services are provided, without charge, to people regardless of their religion or social status.

165

1.1 MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY, AIROLI, MUMBAI

One of the branches of Missionaries of charity is in Airoli city situated in Mumbai. This branch specially takes care of the elderly ladies who are physically or mentally unfit or don’t have their families to look after them. This branch has around 130 of such females as their patients. There are many groups which often give a visit to this NGO and donate their time, money and the material things required. The finances of the NGO are looked after by the trustees and the donations coming in by the society members.

166

167

1.1.2 FEATURES OF THE NGO

Some of the other features of the NGO are as belowa) Huge accommodation facility :

The NGO has a very huge space to properly accommodate the increasing number of ladies. It also has huge bedrooms comprising of many beds, a huge canteen and a garden. The premises of the NGO are covered by many trees making the place more serene and peaceful.

168

b) Large number of staff :

In order to look after 130 ladies with different disorders, a great manpower is required. This NGO has around 3o staff members who constantly look after the needs of the patients and help them in their day to day activities.

c) Strict time table/schedule to be followed at the NGO :

169

The above chart has a list of all activities which needs to be carried out from time to time by the ladies, some of them are as below  Morning prayer  Breakfast  Washing & cleaning  Counseling, meditation, physiotherapy  Lunch  Rest  Gardening & walking  Extra activities (Handmade crafts/playing games)  Dinner  Night prayer  Sleep

d) Medical facilities : The medical facilities provided to the ladies are extremely good. A well-known doctor from Thane visits the NGO regularly for the check-ups. Their diet plan is also fixed. It is said that many of the ladies have returned to their homes after getting proper treatment from the NGO.

170

e) Clean and beautiful premises : The most important thing is that the premises outside and inside the NGO are kept extremely clean keeping in mind the health of the patients. Extremely ill patients are made to stay in separate rooms and their special care is taken. One can feel peaceful just watching the statue of Mother Mary at the entrance.

`

171

f) Activities carried out for the patients : The NGO carries out some or other activities for the ladies. The ladies are taught to prepare small crafts items so that they can spend their time wisely and also learn something new. The below pictures are of the ear-rings and lanterns made the patients themselves.

There are many such small hand-made items prepared by the ladies which the entire place is decorated.

172

173

2. STUDENT PROJECT ACTIVITY The student project activity includes three sub-sections as below1. Objective of the project 2. Activities carried out at the NGO 3. Results/Conclusion

2.1. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT The project activity was carried out with the following objectives –  To get an insight about the life inside an NGO  To learn about the background and history of the patients getting admitted in the NGO  To study about the problems and difficulties faced by them and the medical facilities being provided.  To learn about their requirements and try to fulfill the same.

174

2.2 ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT AT THE NGO Our visit to the NGO comprised of the below mentioned activities wherein the above objectives had been achieved-

A) INTRODUCTION WITH THE SISTER & THE CARETAKERS : Sister Maria Joseph is the lady looking after the NGO. She granted us the permission to visit the NGO and carry out our activities. Our first interaction was with the Sister and then with the caretakers. The caretakers gave us information regarding the NGO. We learnt that there are around 130 elderly ladies residing over here and almost 30 staff members to look after them. On asking about the behavior of the patients, the caretakers said that the ladies are often quite but sometimes they turn violent and start fighting and it is the most difficult time to calm them down. According to the caretakers, few ladies have been brought to the NGO, treated in here properly and once they are fit, they are sent back to their families. And the once who don’t have any families or are unfit have stayed here for long years.

175

B) INTRODUCTION WITH PATIENTS : As soon as we entered the premises of the NGO, there were some smiling faces, waving us hello, while some faces were surprised and just stared at us, some faces looked at us with a hope that we will take them back to their homes. It was their time of having tea, we helped the caretakers in serving them tea and tried to make some interaction with the ladies.

176

C) SERVING REFRESHMENTS : It is said there is no sincere love than the love of food. Feeding someone gives you the joy of fulfillment. We served them some refreshments and the happiness on their faces was visible, giving us blessings in return.

177

178

179

D) INTERACTION WITH PATIENTS : Interaction with the ladies taught us many lessons as how we should respect and value the small things we have, rather we creep over the small problems we have and then there are these ladies who cannot even get the joy of staying with their families. Few ladies were willing and excitedly taking to us while few choose to remain silent. Few of them told us their stories as how they reached this NGO and their life past entering here. Some were left here by their families, few were found ill lying on the streets dropped in the NGO by the police officials. One of them, the only young lady named Pooja didn’t remember anything about her past and kept on repeating some same statements again and again. Another mid-aged lady was kept tied to a chair. When asked about her, the caretaker said if she is not tied she beats herself as well as others. We were just shocked to see her in that state. One of the lady constantly kept on holding our hand and telling us to drop her to her home. Few ladies were physically as well mentally fit but they didn’t have their families to stay with. Thus we got to hear many different life stories which made us feel how lucky we are.

180

181

E) ENTERTAINMENT ACTIVITIES : The best part of our entire schedule was the time when we carried out some entertainment activities for the patients. The activities included singing and dancing. We sang some old songs as majority of the crowd included senior ladies. As soon as we started singing, more number of voices started joining us and the smiles on their faces started increasing by miles. Few ladies came in front to sing with us while few enjoyed the songs sitting quietly. As it is said one should dance as it will make you feel younger, many ladies willingly came forward to shake a leg with us, when we started dancing. One of them requested us to sing a particular song and danced on the same and the glow on her face was worth watching. All of them enjoyed the short program but it was us who experienced the true joy by watching their smiling faces.

182

183

184

F) VOTE OF THANKS : At the end of the entertainment program, we asked the ladies whether they enjoyed our company or not. And all we got is positive responses, few ladies could not speak but their face said it all. We told them about the happiness we got by being with them and assuring them that we will visit them again. And in return we got so many blessings. Bidding adieu was the most difficult part as the time spent with them not only gave us joy but taught us many lessons as well.

185

3. CONCLUSION

The project was carried out with an objective of getting an insight of the life inside an NGO. The time we spent in the NGO helped us to achieve this objective as we were able to study an entire day’s schedule of the patients over there and the activities done by them. We also learnt the life stories and experiences and the way these ladies got admitted into the NGO by which our second objective was also been achieved. Hearing such difficult life stories has motivated us to respect and value our life, to cope up with smaller problems we face as compared to the problems which these ladies have faced. With respect to the facilities being provided by the NGO, we can say that this NGO has been successful in providing the best of the facilities to the needy ladies. Proper medication, proper diet, clean premises, other activities, all these is helping the ladies to recover faster and providing shelter for the homeless. Few ladies have been sent back to their homes, after getting proper treatment and this can be said to be the biggest achievement of the NGO. As far the requirements are concerned, the financial requirements are fulfilled by the trustees and from the donations received. Upon enquiry, we learnt that the NGO is in need of some medicines and we also tried to fulfill this requirement of theirs. The student project activity at the NGO has not only helped us to achieve all our objectives but it also gave us the joy of giving, accomplishment and fulfillment.

186

BIBLOGRAPHY

 Recycling in plastic industries in India: an analysis of its barriers through fuzzyahp approach', written by Mr. Soham Chakraborty and Mr. S Satapathy and published in the year March 2015.  ‘An analysis of barriers for plastic recycling in the Indian plastic industry', written by Ms. Suchismita Satapathy, published in the year March, 2016  'Porter’s five forces analysis of the Indian plastic industry', written by Mr. Santana Mandal and published in the year November 2011.  'SWOT analysis of Indian plastic industry'

written by Mr. Shahid Iqbal and

published in the year November 2016  Challenges and future prospects of plastic money', written by Mr. P. Sathiya Bama and Dr. K.Gunasundari and published in the year July 2016.

 Recycling in plastic industries in India: an analysis of its barriers through fuzzyahp approach', written by Mr. Soham Chakraborty and Mr. S Satapathy and published in the year March 2015.  ‘An analysis of barriers for plastic recycling in the Indian plastic industry', written by Ms. Suchismita Satapathy, published in the year March, 2016  'Porter’s five forces analysis of the Indian plastic industry', written by Mr. Santana Mandal and published in the year November 2011.

187

 'SWOT analysis of Indian plastic industry'

written by Mr. Shahid Iqbal and

published in the year November 2016  Challenges and future prospects of plastic money', written by Mr. P. Sathiya Bama and Dr. K.Gunasundari and published in the year July 2016.

 'Demonetization and its impact on adoption of digital payment: opportunities, issues and challenges’ written by Dr. Dhani. Shanker Chaubey and Mr. Piyush Kumar and published in the year June-17.

 ‘Impact of demonetisation on cashless transaction’ written by Ananya Mitra, Sonali Rath and Jayant Kumar Nayak and published in the year July-17.

 'Demonetization: impact on cashless payemnt system ' written by Mr. Manpreet Kaur, Assistant Professor: SGTB Khalsa College, Anandpur Sahib and published in the year January-17  ‘Study of consumer' perception of digital payment mode', written by Mr. Shamsher Singh and Mr. Ravish Rana and published in the year December 2017

 ‘Digital payments for rural india - challenges and opportunities', written by Shakir Ali, Wasim Akhtar, and S. K. Safiuddin and published in the year June,2017  'Black swan effect of demonetisation on digital mode of payment in india ' written by Professor Manisha Rajdhyaksha and Satyendra Jaiswal and published in the year April 2017  A study on demonetization and its impact on cashless transactions, written by Mr. K. C. Balaji and published in the year March 2017.

188

 'Impact and importance of cashless transaction in india', written by Ms.Pranjali A. Shendge, Mr. Bhushan G. Shelar and Asst.Prof. Smitaraja S. Kapase and published in the year April 2017.

 'Opportunities and challenges of e- payment system in india', written by Mr. Sujith T S, Julie C D and published in the year 2017.

 'Emerging digital economy – a cashless perceptive in india', written by Mr. Parikshit Agarwal and published in the year 2017.

189

ANNEXURE

190

191

192

193

194

195

196

197

198

199