The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites.
In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."
She has a valid concern. Many senior citizens in Ahmedabad, where I live, wish to shop online but refrain due to the fear of fraud, which seems imaginary to me but very real to them. "What if the item I purchased online with an advance payment is delivered to someone else?" one of them questioned. I observed this individual struggling with online shopping apps to order necessities, as age limits his and his wife's ability to venture out.
Upon discovering that Flipkart and Shopsy were refusing COD for online shopping, I attempted to use this option myself on the Flipkart and Shopsy apps—but to my surprise, I was also refused COD! Thinking it might be a locality-specific issue, I contacted their helpline, where I was informed the restriction was indeed area-related.
However, the helpline could not confirm whether this was temporary. I decided to try a different address in Ahmedabad—a posh locality in the Ellisbridge area where a relative resides. I thought that since my locality is a lower-middle class and middle-class area, COD might have been discontinued there, but surely it would be available in Ellisbridge. However, I was mistaken—COD was refused even in Ellisbridge!
Curious about the situation, I did some research to understand the change. We’ve frequently used COD on Flipkart and Shopsy before, so why the sudden restriction? I discovered that Flipkart hasn’t entirely discontinued COD; rather, it's unavailable in certain areas due to logistical challenges, security concerns, or courier partner policies. For high-value orders, Flipkart has restricted COD to prepaid options for quite some time.
Further investigation revealed that Flipkart and Shopsy are not exceptions in this matter. ShopClues has entirely stopped COD due to security and delivery efficiency concerns, as have Fynd, Paytm Mall, and Shopify India (which is "ending support for advanced COD apps for merchants"). Even Amazon India, the most popular online store, "sometimes disables COD for select areas or high-value orders." Similarly, Snapdeal "imposes caps or disables COD during certain periods."
This raises the question: Isn’t stopping COD compelling senior citizens to use prepaid options, which they are reluctant to adopt? And doesn’t this limit the business potential of online shops? I don't know the answer.
Meanwhile, I recall speaking to a senior citizen couple who have been living in the US for several decades. During my visit to their residence in New Jersey last year, the husband, in his late 60s, shared an experience about renewing his driving license. "I went to the office and told the person there that I am not familiar with computers, so I can’t book an appointment online. What options do I have?" he recounted. "The reply was prompt: No worries. We will handle it right away. My license was renewed after the official filled in all my details on the computer, while I provided the necessary documents and doctor's certificate."
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