Savitri Singh, 36, is a street vendor in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar, operating her cart of fresh fruits and vegetables for almost six years. With a QR code prominently displayed between the pumpkins and gourds, she quickly asks customers if they prefer to make a cash payment rather than using the scanner.
“It’s easier that way. We get cash in hand immediately; otherwise, one has to go to the ATM to withdraw money. Who has the time for the additional hassle?,” she says.
Savitri installed the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) scanner – India’s instant payment system, and a sound box which announces the receipt of a payment, almost three years ago. “There was a demand for digital payments from customers, so I had to. Now, most people prefer paying online. These days, customers don’t even stop at the stall if they don’t see a ‘Paytm‘ (a UPI code).”
With the ubiquity of smartphones and affordable internet access, India’s digitisation is accelerating. The country’s focus on promoting a digital economy has led to the growing popularity of mobile payment (m-payment) applications such as PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, etc. This shift is evident in the significant increase in digital payment transactions, which rose from INR 2,071 crore in FY 2017-18 to INR 13,462 crore in FY 2022-23.
While Savitri has installed the UPI soundbox to know if she received a payment, she still uses a keypad phone without internet access. “I receive the notification through this soundbox, which is connected to my son’s phone. He withdraws money for me through the ATM or bank,” she explains.
Digital Payment Barriers
The reluctance to accept digital payments is common among many informal women workers in the country. Neethi P, a researcher at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), says, “Handy cash is a necessity for informal workers as they don’t have time to access banks during the day, and it sometimes increases their dependency on others.”
Neethi added, “Managing both household and work responsibilities means time is a precious commodity. Vending and other informal occupations often do not adhere to fixed working hours, spilling over into early mornings and late nights. This leaves little time for vendors to visit banks, increasing their stress and reliance on family members for support.”
Rama, 32, another street vendor in Panchkula, Haryana, has not adopted a digital payment system yet. Unlike Savitri, she doesn’t even own any phone.
“I don’t have UPI. If a customer insists on using it, I get it done through the grocery store owner in front of my stall,” says Rama, who sells bangles and bindis on a cot in the market. She later withdraws the money from his account, and says that she gets annoyed when the amount is large. “Representatives from Paytm keep coming and asking me to install their soundbox, but I haven’t, as I do not make enough profit. It deducts some money every month and is not free. Why should I pay for that?”
The Paytm soundbox with a data cable and adapter has a monthly rental of INR 125 (~USD 1.5) and an initial setup cost of INR 375 (~USD 4.5) – a system unaffordable for many street vendors like Rama.
Despite the rise in digital payments across the country, women’s access to digital transactions and smartphones remains restricted due to societal norms that define what is ‘appropriate’ for them. This has led to a significantly lower usage and integration of digital services among women compared to men. According to a report by Oxfam India on the digital divide in the country, less than 31% of women own a mobile phone, as compared to over 60% of men.
Lack of Digital Literacy
A 2018 Harvard study found that the gender gap in making calls using a mobile phone in India ranges from 15-20%. This disparity increases to 51% for reading and sending SMS messages, and further widens to 60% for more complex activities like making banking transactions.
Rama, for instance, is educated up to the 12th standard and knows how to read English, albeit not fluently. Despite this, she neither owns a phone nor has ever tried accessing the internet on her own. “We have three phones at home, one owned by my husband and the other two by my children. They need them for their studies. Why do I need one? I know how to use it, though. Sometimes I use it for YouTube.”
Like Rama, about 47% of women who have access to phones in India are phone borrowers rather than owners. This automatically limits women’s use of these devices as well as their autonomy, given the patriarchal nature of traditional Indian society.
Payment Workarounds
With limited access to digital devices or knowledge of how to make digital transactions, women have created their own arrangements to adapt to the systems and navigate their way forward. Radha, 42, another vendor in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar, who runs a small food cart selling soda and tea, immediately calls her daughter whenever someone makes a digital payment to her UPI code. This arrangement ensures she receives the payment and is not scammed by the customer.
Saba Ahmad, Assistant Research Coordinator at SEWA Bharat, a federation of women-led institutions providing economic and social support to women in the informal economy, comments, “Where women have formed their own systems to confirm if they received a digital transaction—by either calling a family member at home, taking a note in a diary, or setting up a soundbox—many women workers still do not know how to make digital transactions on their own. This incapacity prevents them from paying wholesalers or suppliers digitally when they go back to buy goods.”
Savitri, for instance, adds, “To buy vegetables from the mandi (big market), I need cash. So, at times, my son withdraws it for me as I’m incapable of making digital payments on my own. Sometimes he even accompanies me.”
Bank Access Challenges
Access to banks to withdraw money received via UPI or ATM can also prove to be a challenge. Saba Ahmad says, “Direct access to banks, for instance, can be a challenge for women workers especially in rural areas or small urban centres for withdrawals.”
Further, in accessing banks, questions like “How will I know where to go and ask for money when I don’t even know how to read and write?”, “How do I know what slip I need to fill out?”, “How do I fill the slip, and verify that the amount I mentioned is what is written and what I am receiving?,” often deter them from engaging with banking services.
Saba, reflecting on her digital training experiences at SEWA, shares, “Even if women set up accounts during our training sessions on digital literacy and UPI payments, true proficiency comes with regular use. The fear of making transactions on their own persists where building trust in digital payments requires hands-on practice.”
Digital Payment Fears
The lack of women’s access to digital literacy is not just due to the inaccessibility of digital devices but also various fears associated with digital payments.
Much of the decision-making stems from fear. Women are aware that UPI payments can simplify their work, but the fear of losing the little money they have is overwhelming. Savitri, for instance, has not learned how to make digital payments on her own. “How will I understand all this? What if I make a mistake in making a payment? This is something only educated people can learn,” she says. “What if I press the wrong button and lose all my money? My husband will kill me. All this is very risky.”
Radha shared a similar hesitation about learning digital payments. She adds, “I’m very sure these banks must be taking their share on every payment. What if they refuse to give me my money when I need it? What if someone else withdraws all my money?”
Neethi comments that the perception of banking and financial matters as predominantly male concerns also contributes to the anxieties of women surrounding digital transactions.
Rama has other anxieties, such as whether they will be able to recover the costs of setting up systems like soundboxes and internet connections.
Protecting Money
Aditi Surie, a senior researcher at the IIHS, working on digital platforms and livelihoods in the Global South, highlights the significant challenges women face. “The cost of loss is so high that they are reluctant to make transactions unless there’s a safety net involved, usually supported by family. Overcoming the fear and driving behavioural change is equally challenging,” she says.
The primary concern for most people in the informal economy is how to protect their money while enjoying the ease of transactions. Digital transactions come with a high risk of scams, which cannot be ignored and significantly adds to users’ fears.
The popularity and ease of UPI payments have unfortunately made them a prime target for scammers. According to data from the Reserve Bank of India, digital payment frauds surged more than fivefold to INR 14.57 billion (> USD 173.5 million) in the year ending March 2024.
Kulsum Rani, a vendor selling flowers and incense sticks near the Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi, says, “I do know how to transfer money, but I don’t carry my phone with me here due to the high risk of theft. You can move around and not even notice where your phone has disappeared.”
Aditi agrees that it is not just about technology but also about the safety of public spaces and the quality of the work environment.
Furthermore, women face higher levels of accountability, where even minor issues like cracking a screen or losing a phone can have severe repercussions at home. Saba notes, “Men are not held to the same standards; women are penalised much more severely for mistakes.”
She adds, “If a man makes a financial error, the consequences might be limited to a household argument or some extra work to rectify it. In contrast, if a woman makes a similar mistake, she may face domestic violence and abuse for days. This mistake also reinforces the perception that women should avoid handling such transactions, while men often escape similar scrutiny.”
Agency of Women
For many women street vendors, reluctance to accept digital payments stems from a lack of control over their funds. Kulsum’s hesitation is clear: “When you pay us in cash, it goes directly into my hand. But with digital payments, the money goes to my son’s phone.”
Additionally, relying on others for banking services often means revealing how much these women are earning. Many women use joint bank accounts or accounts held by their husbands or sons. In such cases, the husband or son receives one-time passwords (OTPs) to access accounts, creating an additional barrier. The money gets distributed at the household level, which can be beneficial or detrimental for women, depending on the circumstances.
While digital payments have introduced new ways for women to engage in the market, many are finding their own methods of adapting, either slowly or partially. Dolly, a street vendor selling handbags in Panchkula, mentioned that UPI is preferable as it helps her keep track of her sales. Another vendor, who sells cigarettes at a pan shop, noted that digital payments eliminate the hassle of giving change.
Kulsum shared that digital payments sometimes protect her from police harassment. “These online payments are good for me. When the police come and ask how much money I make, they take a cut of it. But with online payments, I can show them only a few offline transactions and escape by paying less,” she explains.
While the advancements in digital payments promise convenience and security, women’s inclusion in the systems fully is still not achieved. This exclusion is rooted in a trust deficit in the systems, a lack of education on new technologies, and entrenched barriers to digital and financial literacy. The gender digital divide further exacerbates these challenges, as societal norms and limited access to resources hinder women’s full participation in the digital economy.
Written by Anuj Behal and originally published as Women Street Vendors Are Hesitant To Use Digital Payment Methods in India
