New Delhi, Feb 17 (KNN) As many as  56 percent of the merchants still do not accept digital payments because of the risks and cost of handling cash along with a fear of income loss after adopting digital payment solutions, highlights a Survey.

According to a Survey conducted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)  and Deloitte India, "More than half -- 56 percent -- of the surveyed merchants still do not accept digital payments. Fear of an income loss can be a key determinant for merchants to adopt digital payment solutions. Reduced time, risks and costs of handling cash is another reason."

The study was titled 'Demonetisation for Merchants - The Promise, Potential and Practicalities'. It was conducted to gain an understanding of changes after demonetisation and focussed on two modes of digital payments -- cards (debit and credit card) and mobile wallets.

Sixty-seven percent of the merchants who accept digital payments said that they did so because of customer demand post-demonetisation.

"Customer demand and convenience are the primary reason for merchant's to accept cards and mobile-wallets," it added.

The survey noted that given the importance of setting up card infrastructure, on boarding micro and small merchants (with annual turnover less than Rs 15 lakh) was an important first step in a journey to a less-cash society.

The petrol pumps surveyed in the study recorded 100 percent acceptance of digital payments, while the grocery stores (20 percent) and restaurants (16 percent) had the lowest acceptance of digital payments.

"The metros (Mumbai -- 87 percent -- and Delhi/NCR -- 68 percent) see higher acceptance of digital payments in comparison to non-metros (Ghandinagar and Jaipur -- 33 percent, Nagpur -- 37 percent and Thrissur -- 30 percent)," the survey revealed.

There has already been an estimated two-times volume growth in point of sale machines' (PoS) usage and mobile wallet transactions post-demonetisation, the survey added.