India is not new to internet suspension. Kashmir has been under an internet blackout since August, after the abrogation of Article 370, and now after CAA and NRC protests, various locations of the nation experienced internet blackout including our nation¡¯s capital -- to stop spreading of misinformation.
While Delhi soon came back online, some locations in Uttar Pradesh and Assam that were also a part of this shutdown still remain disconnected from the rest of the nation. And while it might seem like authorities got what they wanted -- in terms of maintaining peace and harmony in those locations -- those locations lost a whole lot more.
Internet in Lucknow had remained suspended since December 19 after the city experienced violent protests, until the evening of December 25. More districts witnessed the shutdown a day after on December 20 after the Friday prayers violence that were witnessed in 12 districts across the state, including in Meerut, Kanpur, Bulandshahr, Firozabad, among others.?
The elimination of the internet severely affected migrant worker population, students and other individuals who commonly used NPCI or National Payment Corporation of India¡¯s Aadhaar-enabled payment systems for daily monetary transactions.?
As per a recent NPCI data (reported first by ET) that was released on Tuesday shows a total of 19 crore transactions amounting to Rs 9,300 crore was recorded. Now in case you were wondering it is a lot, it isn¡¯t. In fact, it is lower than the 25 percent growth in transactions that were recorded during November and December in 2018.
It also marks a 5% contraction compared to the value of transactions recorded in November and a downturn of nearly 14% from the value of transactions recorded in the festive season of October.
The numbers are also 5 percent less compared to the transactions done in November 2019 and 14 percent lower than seen during the festive season of October 2019.
Anand Srivastava, founder of financial services provider Bean and a senior member of Business Correspondent Federation of India said in a statement to ET, ¡°The contraction in growth is predominantly because of the internet shutdowns. We saw in the areas where the internet was shut down, the transactions contracting by nearly 40% while in peripheral areas, the impact was in the range of 20-25%,¡±
He further added, ¡°These services are availed by the PMJDY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana) customers to get subsidies through DBT which are life-critical for these bottom of the pyramid customers. We are in the process of sending representations to both the National Payments Corporation of India and the Unique Identification Authority of India, as well as ministries, regarding the situation.¡±