Final Report/Synopsis of Research Results:

Case studies of Parichan and Mohan

Parichan and Mohan are two Delhi rickshaw pullers who live their lives on the streets. Like over half of the research sample of 177 rickshaw pullers, they migrated to Delhi from Bihar. Parichan left his home 25 years ago never to return to his village in Sitamarhi District. He is alone and has no contact whatsoever with his extended family and has made the Delhi streets his home since he migrated there. With no one to help him in Delhi, he saw rickshaw pulling as a means of livelihood. He has made the footpaths of Ajmeri Gate his home and uses either a paid public lavatory or bath, or the free public taps and public spaces as his washroom.

This is the 2-page executive summary for the IMTFI Working Paper: Effects of Mobile Money on the Savings Practices of Low-Income Users - the Indian Experience by Mani Nandhi.

In 2011, 65% of India’s population did not have access to a bank account. Nevertheless, India’s socalled “unbanked” save by other means for everyday expenditures and emergencies. Traditional forms of saving include leaving money in gulaks (Fig. 1), with trusted friends or relatives, or in savings clubs. Many of these practices, however, are often risky or inefficient.

From Ghana to Papua New Guinea, mobile money services have emerged as a safer and more efficient savings mechanism. Mobile money provides a means of financial inclusion for the unbanked. In India, there are now six mobile money services enabling banking at very low cost.

The study explored the financial behavior of cycle rickshaw pullers in Delhi to assesstheir strategies and choices in saving, storing and remitting their money and thechallenges and the constraints they faced in managing their money and livelihoods. Thestudy addressed the following research questions: 1. How do the urban poor handle their money matters?; 2. What are the different types of financial instruments used by urban migrants in managing their money?; 3. What are the different strategies used by them in saving, payments, credit and in remitting their money?; 4. What are the diverse practices (storage, concealment and transfers of their earnings and wealth) adopted by them to safeguard their cash and earnings from deception and frauds, theft, temptation to spend on unwanted and unproductive expenditures and other perils and dangers; 5. What are the mechanisms available to the urban poor in minimizing their risk and vulnerabilities? Specifically, what are the social practices (nature of social capital and social networks) that are available to them in the migrated place as well as point of destination to fall back on during crises and emergencies?

Primary data was collected in 5 districts (Central/New Delhi, North, South and West) in Delhi and covered 176 cycle rickshaw pullers randomly selected from 19 areas of their operations. The study used 4 methods: in-depth interviews of rickshaw pullers based on structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, and case studies and key informant interviews to cross-validate specific findings.