UPI is booming but many women still left behind, finds study

A flower vendor displays a digital QR code scanner alongside her fresh blooms in Hyderabad on Friday. | Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL A ₹2 sachet of betel nuts or a ₹10 cup of piping-hot tea can be paid for digitally at Pujari Lakshmi’s tea stall on Hyderabad’s busy and upscale Jubilee Hills Road No. 10. A UPI QR code is prominently displayed at her stall, but Ms. Pujari herself does not know how to use it.She keeps her broken smartphone on a stand next to the gas stove, its screen held in place by two rubber bands. A UPI app is installed on the phone, but when she has to make a digital payment, it is her husband, Pujari Srinivas, or her children who handle the transaction using her UPI ID.“Who doesn’t have a bank account and a smartphone these days? But I don’t know how to use UPI apps. What