As millions of Indians line up to try and get their hands on cash, an e-commerce company has started delivering it to their doorsteps.

It’s a response to the Indian Government’s sudden ban on 500 and 1,000 rupee notes Nov. 8, which removed 86 percent of the country’s cash and has left people struggling to get money for their daily needs.

Snapdeal, one of India’s biggest online retailers, has added rupee notes to the hundreds of products it already offers. Users can get up to 2,000 rupees (US$30) in cash by swiping their debit cards through a machine carried by the company’s couriers and paying a one rupee commission.

The pilot program debuted last week in the cities of Gurgaon and Bangalore. Snapdeal is using the rupee notes it receives from cash-on-delivery transactions, a popular method of paying even for online goods in India.

A company spokeswoman declined to give exact figures, but told CNNMoney that it has already received a “significant number” of requests for cash.

Many Indians are switching to digital payment methods, but those who can’t have few options but to spend hours waiting in line at banks or ATMs. And for a country where more than 90 percent of daily transactions are estimated to take place in cash, the shift away from paper currency is a huge task.

Snapdeal’s initiative is the latest inventive workaround to the cash shortage. Some banks have provided ATM buses, and one company even let people hire helpers that will stand in line for them.

“The launch of the cash on demand service is intended to further help our consumers tide over any cash crunch that they might face in addressing their daily needs,” Snapdeal co-founder Rohit Bansal said in a statement.

The company said it plans to expand the cash delivery service to other Indian cities in the coming weeks.

看到数百万印度人为了取现金而大排长龙，一家电子商务公司开始提供现金快递上门服务。

出现这一现象是因为11月8日印度政府突然取缔了500和1000卢比纸币，使该国86%的现金消失，人们因此很难获取现金来满足日常开销。

Snapdeal是印度最大的在线零售商之一，该公司出售的商品已有数百种，如今又新增了卢比纸币。用户可在Snapdeal送货员携带的机器上刷借记卡购买最多2000卢比（30美

元）现金，并支付1卢比佣金。

这一业务试点上周在古尔冈和班加罗尔开始推行。Snapdeal使用的现金是该公司通过货到付款方式收到的，在印度即使是网购商品也流行现金支付。

Snapdeal公司一位发言人告诉有线新闻网财经频道，他们已经收到了“数额巨大”的现金购买请求，但拒绝透露确切的数字。

许多印度人已经转而使用电子支付方式，但没有使用电子支付的人却鲜有选择，只能花上数小时在银行或自动取款机前排队等候。据估计，印度90%的日常交易都是用现金进行，对于这样一个国家来说，转而不用纸币是一项艰巨的任务。

Snapdeal的新业务是为解决现金短缺问题而发明的最新变通方案。有些银行推出了自助取款机公交车，还有一家公司提供帮忙排队的服务。

Snapdeal联合创始人罗希特•班萨尔在一份声明中说：“推出现金快递服务旨在进一步帮助我们的消费者克服他们目前可能面临的现金紧缺问题，满足消费者的日常生活需求。”

该公司表示，他们计划在未来几周内将现金快递服务扩展至印度其它城市。

(Chinadaily.com.cn)

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

   【快递员】kuàidìyuán courier a messenger, usually traveling in haste, bearing urgent news, important reports or packages, diplomatic messages, etc.

    【变通方法】biàntōng fāngfǎ workaround any method used to overcome a technical problem