For the past 2-3 years, whenever I come home to Mizoram for a brief vacation, I would tell my friends and family about the wonders of technology back in Pune, about how my life had completely changed because of the e-wallet and UPI system.
I no longer had to go to an ATM for the umpteenth time to withdraw cash because almost everybody in my life (back in Pune) accepted one form of online payment or the other.
Electric bill? Online payment.
Monthly rent? Online transfer.
Grocery shopping? Sodexo card.
Zomato and Swiggy orders? Debit card.
Wine Shop? Credit card.
And that’s not all. All my transportation apps like Uber and Ola were loaded with prepaid wallets. And even when I do take an auto-rickshaw not affiliated with any of these service providers, I could always pay him by PayTM or GPay.
Right from my local barber to roadside tea stall vendor and even the paani-puri wala, everybody had one of those UPI apps - PayTM, GPay, PhonePe, Freecharge etc. I need to call an electrician or plumber to my house but I'm low on cash? No problem, I can pay them using one of those apps. Maid's salary? GPay it. Watchman's Diwali bonus? PayTM it. Office group contribution for a colleague's birthday party? WhatsAppPay it. Traffic violation? Cop already has a card swipe machine to pay the fine! :D There was even that popular joke about beggars going around begging for money with a QR Code :D
Now, all those cashless transactions had made life much more simple and seamless for me back in Pune. And with today's ongoing pandemic, it is of utmost importance to follow such practices because the virus is known to spread through physical cash contact as well.
Which is why I am so happy to observe that almost everybody here in my locality Chaltlang is using GPay or PayTM since the outbreak of this pandemic. Maybe it's the fear of CoVid-19 that had pushed people to resort to this, but a lot of my neighbours and shopkeepers now have this e-payment option.
It made me think, "Finally!" you know, we have caught up with the rest of the world.
Except, we haven't actually. This is one of those moments when we are almost there, but not quite.
You see, even though all the shopkeepers in my locality have UPI payment options now, I still can't use them because... I don't have freaking mobile data! :D
Yeah, my phone says "4G", which is a big joke. 4G, my ass. Even at full 4G signal (courtesy my beloved Vodafone service provider), I can't even load Twitter or Facebook most of the time. Every time I complained, I was told that such and such a tower is currently under maintenance blah blah blah.
I am on Vodafone's "RED International" subscription plan (their second most expensive post-paid plan) with 200 GB monthly data at 10 Mbps, among many other perks, and if you see my data usage as of tonight, you'll see that even though this month is about to end soon, I was able to use up just 3 GB so far, lolz.
That's how bad the data network is over here in Chaltlang.
And so, after I buy all the stuff I need from the shops near my house, since I can't make the payment due to network issue, I run back to my house, connect my phone to our WiFi, and then only make the payment through GPay from there, lolz!
I mean, in a way, yeah, it has served its purpose, no cash was exchanged between me and the vendors, but I can only do this with the shopkeepers around my house who know me personally. Since I have been outside Mizoram my entire life, most of the people in my locality don't know who I am, and so this "I'll make the transfer as soon as I reach home" technique won't work.
Pretty useless, naw?
This kinda reminds me of our famous traffic light at Dawrpui.
The traffic signal is just lying there. Whether it is showing red or green or orange, nobody cares, it has absolutely no effect on traffic because everybody runs or stops depending on the signal given by the traffic police posted there. :D :D :D
Yeah, next time you're feeling quite useless, think of this traffic signal or my online payment apps, that might cheer you up. :D :P
I guess sometimes not all technological advancement is as useful as it's supposed to be when external factors affect it. I need an actual 4G, a proper 4G, in order to utilize these UPI apps properly. Without that, it is pretty much useless. But still, yeah, I am extremely delighted that most vendors in my locality are now adapting to this cashless transfer process.
Until my mobile network improves, I guess I'll just have to bear this pain. Online payment? More like... online painment.
