Irreversible Formalisation? ATM Vs UPI Value Graph In Economic Survey Suggest QR Codes Have Comprehensively Beaten Cash Machines

India will need fewer ATMs going forward, as UPI usage seems to have caught up firmly in the country.

This is what was apparent in the last graph of chapter 1 of the Economic Survey 2022.

According to experts, this graph suggests the following:

-One, ATM usage could not completely recover from the shock of the First Wave in April 2020.

-Two, it is around the same weeks that total value of UPI transaction exceeded the total value of ATM transactions and the gap has gone on increasing ever since.

-Three, the current gap between the two and their trends suggest formalisation of economy at a scale that cannot now be reversed.