CASHLESS ECONOMY – AN INSIGHT INTO THE USAGE AND AWARENESS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN RURAL AREAS

In the current scenario, internet has taken the globe by storm. All the countries, which are technologically advanced has moved or moving to digital transformation and India is no exception.  Since India is a developing country, the changes are taking place in a slow and steady pace. When we move to digital era, everything will be digitized. There will be greater changes in all the fields to a large extent. Traditional practices would become obsolete. One such practice that is going to become a challenge is elimination of currency notes and coins replaced by plastic cards and digital transactions. We can see the younger generation gradually moving to digital transactions. However, when we look at the X generation, they are still sceptical about using the plastic money. Hence, this paper attempted to study the minds of the rural people about the cashless economy, their awareness and levels of usage of digital money. For the purpose of the study 100 respondents from rural areas of Pollachi Taluk of Coimbatore District in Tamil Nadu has been selected. Using the statistical tools like percentage analysis, Simple Average and Chi-square tests, all the collected data have been analysed. The identified results clearly show the level of awareness and usage of the digital money as well as the rural mindset about the cashless society.