User Acceptance to Cashless Payment System – A Study on Digital India Initiative in Rural Tripura

Tripura is one of the North Eastern states of India inhabited by 71% rural population and a burgeoning 31% tribal population. The state is skirted by Bangladesh from three sides which suffered due to slow paced industrial development. Further, post 8th November 2016, the news of demonetization has thrown challenges before the rural population as they lacked awareness and training to deal with the ensuing payment systems alternate to cash transactions. Tripura being dependent on MGNREGA, low per capita income faced difficulty in responding to ambitious Digital India initiative. This study is appropriate in the current scenario and attempts to identify the important factors contributing towards the propagation of cashless transaction system. A massive survey of over 400 households spread in eight districts was conducted across various age groups and income levels in the entire state of Tripura. The ethnic thought process and conservative approach to financial transaction amongst the people of rural blocks and the shadow villages of Tripura have shown their positivity towards accepting the system with security and transparency remained the most significant factor. Using exploratory factor analysis, it was found that youth have adopted online shopping