99% individuals have Aadhaar cards, 93% have bank accounts: CMS report

NEW DELHI: About 99% of persons interviewed in a study across 13 states early this year said they had Aadhaar number, 97% had mobile phone and 93% had a savings bank account. The study has also found how six in every 10 households surveyed had internet facility and a minimum of one-third of them used digital mode for cash transfer at least once in the past one year.

The 12th round of the study carried out by Centre for Media Studies (CMS) also shows 10% households claiming that they regularly opt for digital payment. Cashless transaction was high in Gujarat followed by Maharashtra and Delhi, according to survey, which covered 2,000 households including from 200 rural and urban clusters.

The findings are out at a time when the government is pushing hard for more financial transactions through digital mode and increasing digital literacy. “More than 60% of the households, across socio-economic categories, reported using internet facilities. States where internet facilities are used by a high percentage of households include Gujarat (99%), Maharashtra (94%), Delhi (84%) and Bihar(81%). While in West Bengal less than one-fourth are using internet facilities,” the report said.

This was for the first time the CMS study covered digital inclusion part.

According to the report, around one-fifth of respondents said they opt for digital payment “once in a while”. It said, “More cashless transaction, using digital methods was reported in Gujarat (82%) followed by Maharashtra (75%) and Delhi (55%). In Telangana and Bihar too, nearly 40% used digital payment methods on one or more occasions,” the report said.

Interestingly, the study findings have also highlighted the security concerns of digital payment gateway. About 10% of the households have said they received call from unknown persons fraudulently trying to take ATM password or PIN over phone at least once in the past one year.

The “Corruption Study 2018” had found that three-fourth of households surveyed had said corruption in public services had increased or remained the same during the last one year.

Courtesy: TNN