ANNOUNCEMENTS
The idea of digital payment flourished during the year of 2016 after the launch of Digital India Mission by the government of India. However, this digital advancement has produced a digital barrier between "haves" and "have-nots," exacerbating well-being disparities and extending the poverty gap. This gap was widened even further during the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected all major industries, particularly the Vending industry, which is India's informal economy. The informal sector lays the foundation for economic success by channeling products. The vending industry employs people who are less trained and educated, and hence are left out of technical improvements. This study, using both primary and secondary data, will therefore seek to determine what augmented well-being the street vendors will achieve if they use digital payment services in their operations, in a pre-Covid and post-lockdown time period. It was found that a majority of vendors pivoted to using mobile payment solutions (MPS) after the lockdown was lifted. The influence of mobile payment solutions on the income generation of 151 street sellers is investigated using a multiple linear regression analysis. The MPS, as well as socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, have a considerable impact on the merchants' average monthly income. Furthermore, more digitalized suppliers perform better and generate larger monthly revenues than fewer or non-digitalized sellers. Despite having network and fraud issues, the vendors’ derived benefit from using MPS as it increased their sales and was easy to use.
Key Words: Mobile payment solutions, Street vendors, Digital India, Covid-19.
