9B18E010

JIOMONEY M-WALLET: A CURE FOR THE DIGITAL ECONOMY?1

Authorized for use only by Ariq Naufal Satria in COMPFEST at Universitas Indonesia from Sep 07, 2019 to Sep 08, 2019.
Poonam Garg, Rashmi Kumar Aggarwal, and Vaibhav Garg wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors
do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain
names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality.

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On November 8, 2016, at 8:00 p.m. Indian Standard Time, the Prime Minister of India announced in a
televised address to the entire nation of 1.34 billion that two high-value currency notes— ₹5002 and ₹1,000—
would be demonetized as of midnight, November 9, 2016.3 The move was considered to be a deterrent to
corruption, terrorism, and drug peddling. As of March 31, 2016, the total Indian currency in circulation
amounted to ₹16,415 billion, out of which 38.6 per cent were ₹1,000 notes (₹6,326 billion) and 47.8 per cent
were ₹500 notes (₹7,854 billion).4 Together, the high-value denominations accounted for 86 per cent of the
value of the notes in circulation. In effect, India pulled 86 per cent of its cash out of circulation in an economy
that was 95 per cent cash-reliant.5

New currency notes of ₹500 and ₹2,000 were introduced, and the old Indian currency notes had to be returned
to the banks by December 30, 2016.6 From time to time, banks were notified of strict exchange limits and
weekly withdrawal limits. The country had 200,000 automated teller machines (ATMs), which were not fully
calibrated to dispense the new ₹500 and ₹2,000 notes.7 As well, the banks did not have sufficient newly printed
currency to redeem the cancelled notes; therefore, the ATMs and banks ran out of cash.

The decision to demonetize put the people of India in limbo: they faced a sudden cash shortage in an economy
that required they have cash to meet their daily needs. To fill the vacuum created by the lack of cash in the
economy, millions of citizens were pushed into an ever-evolving digital economic grid.

In May 2016, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio) launched JioMoney, a mobile wallet (m-wallet) service,
along with fourth generation (4G) voice and data services and 4G smartphones manufactured by Reliance
LYF.8 With JioMoney, users could make utility bill, insurance, and offline payments; conduct e-retail
transactions; and send and receive money. JioMoney was a new entrant in the m-wallet industry, thus far
dominated by established services such as MobiKwik, Paytm, Oxigen, and many others. Could JioMoney
successfully compete with these existing competitors? Could JioMoney use demonization to its advantage
and leverage a network backed by 4G wireless services, or was demonetization a one-time opportunity for
the company to scale up its business?
Page 2 9B18E010

RELIANCE JIO INFOCOMM LIMITED: COMPANY BACKGROUND

Jio was incorporated in 2007 as Infotel Broadband Services Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries
Limited. Headquartered in Mumbai, India, Jio adopted its current company name in January 2013.

In August 2015, Jio received a payments bank licence from India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI).9 The licence had been granted to “Jio Payments Bank,” a joint venture between Jio and the State
Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest public sector bank.10 SBI had a network of over 13,000 branches and

Authorized for use only by Ariq Naufal Satria in COMPFEST at Universitas Indonesia from Sep 07, 2019 to Sep 08, 2019.
five associate banks located in the remotest parts of India.11

Jio acquired a range of telecommunications radio waves (a spectrum) in 1800 megahertz (MHz) that crossed
14 local calling zones (circles), and a spectrum in 2300MHz across 22 circles.12 The spectrums were capable
of providing 4G wireless services to the highly underserviced Indian market. With an integrated ecosystem,
Jio planned to use the latest technology to provide high-quality access to digital content, applications (apps),
and services.13 Jio was the only operator to deploy spectrum across India in a low-power, high-range band,
which was especially suited for devices such as industrial lighting, metering, and other hardware operating
on the Internet of Things.14

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In May 2016, it launched its value-added service JioMoney when it launched its 4G LTE network.15 The
company had yet to make a profit, but its financial position was slowly improving (see Exhibit 1).

On September 5, 2016, Jio launched its 4G welcome offer to consumers.16 Initially, the company offered
free access to voice, data, and video until December 31, 2016. Later, the company extended the offer until
March 2017.17 The company’s total investment in the telecommunications project was approximately
US$12.5 billion.18

DIGITAL INDIA AND THE M-WALLET MARKET

In 2016, India was the world’s second most populous country with a population of 1.34 billion.
Approximately 65 per cent of its population was under the age of 35. Approximately 72 per cent of the
Indian population lived in villages—638,000 of them. The remainder lived in 5,480 towns and urban
agglomerations.19 The literacy rate was 75 per cent.20

In 2017, the number of smartphone users in India was estimated to have reached 299.24 million, with an
expectation that the number would increase to 442.5 million by 2022 (see Exhibit 2).21 Internet users
numbered 331.8 million; this was projected to increase to 511.89 million by 2022 (see Exhibit 3). The
majority of Internet users accessed the Internet with their mobile phones.22 This group, numbering 320.6
million,23 represented 23.9 per cent of India’s total population; this was expected to increase to 34.85 per
cent of India’s population by 2022 (see Exhibit 4).24

With the rise of smartphones, the digital payment market in India was growing exponentially. The market
was worth an estimated $86 million in 2011 and was expected to grow to $1.15 billion in 2016, representing
a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 68 per cent.25 Google LLC and the Boston Consulting Group
estimated that the market would further reach $500 billion by 2020, constituting about 15 per cent of the
total gross domestic product.26

In a short span of time, the size of the m-wallet user base had grown significantly in India, with m-wallets
being more popular among the younger population. According to the RBI, m-wallets had already surpassed
mobile banking in volume. According to market research company TechNavio, the m-wallet market was
Page 3 9B18E010

expected to grow at a CAGR of 140 per cent by 2018 in India, compared to a CAGR of 34 per cent by 2020
in the global market.27

THE NATURE OF M-WALLETS

An m-wallet was a type of payment service through which individuals and businesses could send and
receive payment using a mobile device. There were several types of m-wallets, classified according to their

Authorized for use only by Ariq Naufal Satria in COMPFEST at Universitas Indonesia from Sep 07, 2019 to Sep 08, 2019.
nature and ownership. Four types were based on the nature of the m-wallet: closed, semi-closed, open, and
semi-open.28 A closed m-wallet was limited to buying goods and services (making payments) or receiving
refunds exclusively from the same company, for example, Flipkart Pvt. Ltd. and Jabong.com. Cash
withdrawals were not permitted through closed e-wallets. In a semi-closed m-wallet, the money could be
loaded and used to make payments at multiple places, but cash withdrawals and cash redemptions were not
permitted. Some financial services could be performed at listed locations. JioMoney and Paytm were semi-
closed m-wallets.

Open m-wallets allowed money to be loaded to purchase products and services, and cash withdrawals could

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be made by using ATMs. Masterpass was an open wallet system that worked with a Mastercard account to
make payments or withdraw cash. Visa had a similar system that worked through the m-wallet resident in
a smartphone, such as Apple Pay. RuPay was a domestic payment system that involved almost 600
international, regional, and local banks across India.29 Semi-open m-wallets allowed users to transact with
merchants that had a contract with the company issuing the wallet. Airtel Money and Axis Bank’s and
Visa’s pre-paid gift cards were examples of semi-open m-wallets. Users could not withdraw cash or get a
redemption through a semi-open m-wallet.30

There were four types of digital wallets classified on the basis of ownership: bank, telecommunication
company (telco), device resident, and technology. Bank m-wallets were designed by banks for their
customers and could be used to pay for multiple services. SBI Buddy, for example, was the SBI’s mobile
wallet. M-wallets owned by telcos were designed for their subscribers and could be used for any of a range
of services that contracted with the telco; for example, Airtel Money. Device resident apps and technology
apps were similar in that they functioned as part of the mobile device. The difference was that device
resident apps were built into the hand-held device—Apple Pay was one of the best-known examples of this
type of wallet—and technology m-wallets were apps in an operating system or created by a third-party that
could be added to a mobile device. Paytm was a third-party technology m-wallet.31

Payment Transactions through Semi-Closed M-Wallets

Mobile wallet payment transactions involved the participation of a buyer or customer; the electronic, offline
merchant; and the m-wallet system (see Exhibit 5). The customer and merchant were required to download
the app from the m-wallet service and register as a user. During the registration process, users chose whether
to sign up as a standard m-wallet user (a customer) or as a business user (a merchant). Consumers could
only make payments from their m-wallet accounts if the account was suitably charged, either by depositing
funds to the account or having the account connected to another financial source, such as a bank or credit
account.

RBI limited consumer m-wallet transactions to a total of ₹20,00032 (about $300) per month, but the limit
could be raised to a maximum of ₹100,000 (about $1,500) per month if the account was supported with
documents verifying the identity of the account holder (know your customer, or KYC documents).33 The
transaction limit for merchants was ₹50,000 (about $725) per month with a signed self-declaration, but it
Page 4 9B18E010

could be raised to ₹100,000 (about $1,500) per month if the merchant’s account was supported by KYC
documents. The m-wallet system was mainly responsible for executing the payment process. It also
controlled the flow of transactions between the buyer and the merchant.

Three types of transactions were conducted using m-wallets: adding money to the m-wallet, making a
merchant or individual payment, and transferring money to a merchant’s bank. Customers could add money
to their m-wallets through various modes like credit cards, debit cards, and Internet banking.34 RBI
guidelines required semi-closed m-wallet service providers to deposit the wallet-user’s deposit to the m-

Authorized for use only by Ariq Naufal Satria in COMPFEST at Universitas Indonesia from Sep 07, 2019 to Sep 08, 2019.
wallet in an escrow account with a bank.35 The m-wallet provider could not access the escrow account
unless and until the user made a request for payment through the m-wallet.36 The escrow process protected
customers against misuse of their money by the m-wallet service provider. Money from the escrow account
would be credited to the m-wallet service provider when the customer made a digital payment to a merchant.
Merchants could also make supplier payments, transfer money between the customer’s bank account, and
use digital petty cash at their will.37

Offline merchant sites accepted money from m-wallets in three ways: push, pull, and “tap-and-go.”38 In the
push method, the user transferred the money to the merchant by scanning a detailed barcode—a quick

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response (QR) code—provided by the merchant. The transaction deducted money from the user’s m-wallet
and credited it to the merchant’s account. The pull method was a multi-step process: the user provided the
merchant with the user’s mobile phone number; the merchant entered the user’s mobile number into the
payment terminal, after which the user received a one-time password on the user’s mobile phone; the user
provided the merchant with that password, which, once entered into the merchant’s system, pulled money
from the user’s m-wallet. In the tap-and-go method, the user made a payment by placing (“tapping”) the
mobile phone on or near the merchant’s terminal. Tap-and-go required that both the user’s mobile device
and the merchant’s terminal be equipped with the necessary communication protocols, known as near field
communication. After the payment transaction was completed, the m-wallet system sent messages to the
user and the merchant, and transferred the payment amount from the user’s payment source to the
merchant’s acquiring bank.

JIO MONEY M-WALLET

JioMoney was a semi-closed, telco-based m-wallet to which customers could deposit money to pay for
goods and services. JioMoney allowed customers to perform all types of low-value and high-volume digital
transactions, including person-to-person and person-to-merchant money transfers, bill and utility payments,
mobile and digital satellite television (DTH) service recharges, media and entertainment purchases, toll and
transit payments, and online shopping payments. The JioMoney app was platform-independent and thus
available for both mobile operating platforms—iOS and Android. Powered by 4G small cell technology—
low-powered nodes that accessed radio waves over short distances—the JioMoney app provided users with
a ubiquitous platform for reasonable and secure digital payments.39

Customers could use JioMoney to instantly and seamlessly pay merchants. The JioMoney Merchant
Solutions app, launched on December 5, 2016, allowed merchants to receive payments from customers
directly into the merchant’s bank account. Merchants could also use the app to pay suppliers, transfer money
between accounts, and use a digital petty cash account.40 JioMoney’s major focus was the rural population
of India, which until then had been oblivious to digital transactions.41 The company targeted 10 million
small merchant retailers across 17,000 towns and 400,000 villages.42
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Competitors

In India, JioMoney faced prime competition from MobiKwik, Paytm, and Oxigen.

MobiKwik: In 2009, Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku launched MobiKwik’s mobile wallet. The
company raised funds in three rounds from Sequoia Capital; Tree Line Advisors (Hong Kong) Limited;
The American Express Company; GMO Payment Gateway, Inc.; MediaTek Inc.; Cisco Investments; and
Net 1.43 The service had 40 million users and had been accepted by 250,000 merchants.44

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MobiKwik was a semi-closed m-wallet that allowed users to top up their accounts with a debit card, credit
card, Internet banking, or cash paid directly to MobiKwik.45 The service could be used to recharge mobile
accounts and make bill payments, and it was accepted by merchants offering a variety of services, such as
cinemas, travel agents, fast food chains, and online shopping portals.

Paytm: Vijay Shekhar Sharma established One97 Communications Limited in 2000 to launch the prepaid
mobile recharge website Paytm.46 The company raised capital from the Indian industrialist Ratan Tata in
March 2015, then secured funding of $680 million from the Alibaba Group Holding Limited and Ant

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Financial Services Group. In 2016, Alibaba Group Holding Limited was the single largest shareholder in
Paytm with 40 per cent of the shareholdings.47

The Paytm m-wallet was launched in 2014 and became India’s largest semi-closed digital wallet. In August
2015, RBI granted Paytm a licence to set up a payment bank in the country, which meant Paytm had three
business models: online payments, payment banks, and an e-commerce portal.48 In 2016, Paytm had over
155 million m-wallet users and 1.5 million offline merchants who accepted payments through Paytm.49

Oxigen: In 2008, Pramod Saxana, promoter of Oxigen Services Private Limited, launched India’s first
virtual mobile wallet,50 approved by the RBI to facilitate payment through social networks, text messaging
(SMS), or email, using any mobile number or bank, even if the recipient was not a registered Oxigen m-
wallet user.51 Oxigen partnered with the National Payment Corporation of India for instant money transfer
services.52 In 2016, Oxigen had 20 million users and was accepted at 9,000 merchant locations and 10,000
online sites for e-commerce transactions.53

DEMONETIZATION AND THE M-WALLET

The Effect of Demonetization on the M-Wallet Industry

In 2016, India was among the most cash-intensive economies in the world.54 Demonetization caused a liquid
cash crunch in the economy and served as an unexpected boon for India’s leading m-wallet providers, in
terms of both a growing user base and the number of transactions reported. According to one study, “The
mobile wallet market in India has been greatly benefited by demonetisation and its share in the total mobile
payment volume transactions is likely to rise from 20 per cent in FY16 [fiscal year 2016] to 57 per cent by
FY22 [fiscal year 2022].”55

Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited and promoter of
JioMoney, congratulated India’s prime minister for his bold and historic decision to demonetize old
currency. Ambani maintained that digitally-enabled transactions would boost economic growth and bring
unprecedented transparency and accountability to India’s monetary system.56
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Sharma, Paytm’s promoter, was equally enthusiastic about demonetization, tweeting, “Keep the money
digital. Superb step by our dear PM @narendramodi. From a bit inconvenience to incredible bold step!
#win# The biggest, boldest and the most ambitious surgical strike by any government in the world. Hats
off to our PM for removing ₹500/1,000 notes. This is a golden day to be a tech entrepreneur in India.
Specially a FinTech one.”57 Since demonetization was announced, Paytm had acquired over 5 million new
users and registered over 7 million transactions in a day58—an increase from the previous count of 2.5
million daily transactions.59

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According to MobiKwik’s co-founder Singh, “Demonetisation has led to a massive shift in how Indians
perceive payments. . . . Before demonetisation, [digital] wallets were an option and now they are a need.
The entire industry has grown many-fold in November and this unprecedented growth will continue.”60
MobiKwik reported 100 per cent growth in customer numbers.61

Pramod Saxena, Oxigen’s promoter, remarked, “Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
demonetization announcement, we have suddenly seen a spike in both app downloads and merchant
registrations. This spike is now coming from all cities, big and small, pan-India, consisting of small
merchants like vegetable vendors, Kirana shopkeepers [small convenience stores], street vendors, rickshaw

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drivers, taxis etc., who’ve signed onto our Oxigen Wallet app for the merchant payments service.”62

From November 8, 2016, until December 2016, JioMoney made the following offers to its users:

 Payment of 10 per cent cashback on shopping done with JioMoney, provided the remittance was to one
of the Reliance Fresh or Reliance Smart stores across India. There was no cap on the cashback earned.
 Customers predominantly using cash for shopping could take advantage of cashback by using cash
loading terminals in any Reliance Fresh or Reliance Smart store to pay with JioMoney, which would
then earn the customer a cashback of 10 per cent on the total invoice.
 The cashback would be credited to the user within two working days of the purchase.
 To help alleviate the problem with making change for the new ₹2,000 currency note, cash loading
terminals were provided in stores, allowing customers to shop and pay for items of any value.
 Unused money in a customer’s JioMoney account could be transferred back into the customer’s bank
account. Money loaded into JioMoney could be used for digital payments to 50,000 online merchants
and more than 70 services (which include utilities payments like electricity and water and/or gas,
insurance payments, e-commerce transactions, and offline store payments).63

Challenges for the M-Wallet in the Demonetized Economy

India’s monetary system was regulated and controlled by the RBI, India’s central bank. RBI had given
licences to many m-wallet services. The biggest challenge for m-wallet companies was the presence of so
many competitors in the market, making it difficult to attract and retain customers and merchants for a long
period. Profit margins were slim and barely covered the cost of partnering with merchants and retaining
customers. Another key challenge for m-wallet companies was a lack of interoperability. Unlike ATMs in
India, m-wallets could not work across systems.64

There were also gaps in infrastructure, such as poor or failed connectivity. Weak mobile network service
resulted in frozen payments and lost connections. Further, a large segment of the target population was not
comfortable with technology. As a result, those consumers and merchants did not understand or trust the
m-wallet system. Security was also a challenge that needed to be addressed for the success of mobile money
services. RBI guidelines required mobile banking service providers to comply with strict document control,
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such as KYC requirements, to prevent money laundering and funding of terrorism. The amount of money
that could be deposited or spent through an m-wallet was low, and the low limit per transaction hindered
business-to-business payments, which often exceeded the transaction ceiling. Finally, a huge population in
the remote and rural areas of India were still without bank accounts. This was an opportunity with a
challenge: could mobile wallet services bring the unbanked population into mainstream banking?

Opportunities with the Unbanked Population

Authorized for use only by Ariq Naufal Satria in COMPFEST at Universitas Indonesia from Sep 07, 2019 to Sep 08, 2019.
After the Indian prime minister announced demonetization on November 8, 2016, ₹500 and ₹1,000 currency
notes were removed from circulation, a new ₹2,000 note was introduced, and the ₹500 note was changed.
The value of the currency remained the same. The finance minister announced that not all scrapped currency
would be remonetized.65 Instead, the Indian government would incentivize digital payments.66 However,
72.2 per cent of India’s population of 1.3 billion people lived in villages, many functioning in the economy
with cash only.67 Approximately 166 million people did not have bank accounts, and over 93 per cent of
people in rural India had no experience with digital transactions.68 Of those that did have mobile phones,
many were using 2G technology—two generations behind the current 4G system. The 2G phones were cost

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effective, but they were not nearly sufficient for the kind of data transfer required for mobile payments
because of their slow data rate.69

If India was going to move from being a cash economy to a “less cash economy” and then to a cashless
economy, a transformation in mindset would be required among a large portion of the population to vest
confidence in digital transactions. Could JioMoney bring this population on board, and was it critical for the
company’s survival to do so? Was the business environment even conducive to exploring new markets? How
could the company use demonetization to its advantage and leverage its network-backed 4G LTE services?
Page 8 9B18E010

EXHIBIT 1: RELIANCE JIO INFOCOMM LTD., BALANCE SHEET (₹ ‘000,000)

As of year-end March 31 2014 2015 2016

Share Capital 2,307,200 3,012,500 4,512,500
Share Warrants and Outstanding 0 0 0
Share Warrants 0 0 0
Total Reserve −2,739 −5,083 −7,471

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Shareholders’ Funds 2,304,461 3,007,417 4,505,029
Secured Loans 645 151,167 900,637
Unsecured Loans 1,508,611 2,611,313 3,736,320
Total Debts 1,509,256 2,762,480 4,636,957
Total Liabilities 3,813,717 5,769,897 9,141,986
APPLICATION OF FUNDS
Gross Block 77,627 102,561 118,252
Less: Accumulated Depreciation 6,504 13,983 24,279

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Less: Impairment of Assets 0 0 0
Lease Adjustment Account 0 0 0
Capital Work in Progress 3,366,531 7,229,777 11,834,987
Pre-Operative Expenses Pending 0 0 0
Assets in Transit 0 0 0
Investments 614,087 503,076 875,656
Current Assets, Loans, and Advances
Inventories 0 0 0
Sundry Debtors (Debtors) 3 3 1
Cash and Bank 3,746 2,701 1,531
Other Current Assets 49,486 9,276 5,417
Loans and Advances 86,122 368,098 761,098
Total Current Assets 139,357 380,078 768,047
Less: Current Liabilities and Provisions
Current Liabilities 376,668 2,429,791 4,426,687
Provisions 713 1,821 3,990
Total Current Liabilities 377,381 2,431,612 4,430,677
Net Current Assets −238,024 −2,051,534 −3,662,630
Miscellaneous Expenses Not Written Off 0 0 0
Deferred Tax Assets/Liabilities 0 0 0
Total Assets 3,813,717 5,769,897 9,141,986
Contingent Liabilities 0 0 0

Source: ACE Knowledge Portal, accessed July 10, 2018, www.acekp.in/

Page 9 9B18E010

EXHIBIT 2: NUMBER OF SMARTPHONE USERS IN INDIA

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Source: “Number of Smartphone Users in India from 2015 to 2021 (in millions),” Statista, accessed June 14, 2018,
www.statista.com/statistics/467163/forecast-of-smartphone-users-in-india/.

EXHIBIT 3: NUMBER OF INTERNET USERS IN INDIA

Source: “Number of Internet Users in India from 2015 to 2021 (In Millions),” Statista, accessed June 14, 2018,
www.statista.com/statistics/255146/number-of-internet-users-in-india.
Page 10 9B18E010

EXHIBIT 4: PERCENTAGE OF MOBILE PHONE INTERNET USERS IN INDIA, 2015 TO 2022

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Source: “Mobile Phone Internet User Penetration in India from 2015 to 2021,” Statista, accessed June 14, 2018,
www.statista.com/statistics/309019/india-mobile-phone-internet-user-penetration.

EXHIBIT 5: SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF PAYMENT TRANSACTION ON SEMI-CLOSED M-WALLET

Note: A/C =Account ; QR = quick response

Source: Created by the case authors.
Page 11 9B18E010

ENDNOTES

1
This case has been written on the basis of published sources only. Consequently, the interpretation and perspectives
presented in the case are not necessarily those of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited.
2
₹ = INR = Indian rupee; US$1 = ₹68.6072 on November 30, 2016.
3
“Rs 500, Rs 1000 Currency Notes Stand Abolished from Midnight: PM Modi,” Indian Express, November 10, 2016, accessed
November 25, 2016, indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/narendra-modi-prime-minister-address-to-the-
nation4364609.
4
Charan Singh, “India’s Currency Must Be Held by the Public with Confidence, Not Uncertainty and Fear,” The Wire,

Authorized for use only by Ariq Naufal Satria in COMPFEST at Universitas Indonesia from Sep 07, 2019 to Sep 08, 2019.
November 23, 2016, accessed November 25, 2016, www.thewire.in/81736/indias-currency-must-be-held-by-the-public-with-
confidence-not-uncertainty-and-fear.
5
Wade Shepard, “A Cashless Future Is the Real Goal of India’s Demonetization Move,” Forbes, December 14, 2016, accessed
December 15, 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2016/12/14/inside-indias-cashless-revolution/#7f81dc2218c7.
6
“Exchange of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 Notes Ends; Can Be Deposited till Dec 30,” Hindustan Times, November 24, 2016,
accessed November 25, 2016, www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/exchange-of-currency-stopped-use-of-old-notes-for-
utility-bills-extended-till-dec-15/story-S9eIPUPtMnrsuMZ2FCXpkJ.html.
7
Anuj Srivas, “Why ATMs are Struggling under the Pressures of Demonetisation,” The Wire, November 11, 2016, accessed
November 25, 2016, www.thewire.in/79526/atms-struggling-pressures-demonetisation.
8
4G, or 4G LTE, was the fourth generation of cellular data technology that used a technology known as “long term evolution”
for transmitting high-speed data over phones and other mobile devices. The transition from 3G to 4G represented a significant
change in how data was transmitted, making it faster, easier, and cheaper to transmit cellular data. To maximize the benefits
of 4G, voice and data services and the equipment using them all had to be equipped to handle 4G. (Matt Klein, “What is 4G

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LTE?,” How-To Geek, October 7, 2016, accessed June 5, 2018, www.howtogeek.com/273745/what-is-4g-lte.)
9
Promit Mukerjee, op. cit.
10
Gopika Gopakumar, “Jio Payments Bank Gets RBI Approval to Start Operations,” LiveMint, March 2, 2017, accessed June
6, 2018, www.livemint.com/Industry/4uRYpj3shR34mzTDZiIlKN/Jio-Payments-Bank-gets-RBI-nod-to-start-operations.html.
11
“Branch Locations,” State Back of India, accessed November 25, 2016, www.sbi.co.in/portal/web/home/branch.
12
Telecomm spectrums were allocated along specific bands of radio waves, usually between 400MHz and 4000MHz (or
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Trivedi, op. cit.
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