Demonetisation did indeed create pain for people with black money and those without access to digital methods of payment, but Paytm saw an opportunity and took it, the payment company’s founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said Tuesday. “You saw what Paytm did and what the other competitors were doing. We saw a chance and took it,” Shekhar said. He was in conversation with ThePrint’s Digital Director Diksha Madhok at Democracy Wall. However, Sharma admitted there were both advantages and disadvantages to an economic policy like demonetisation. “It created pain for people, that is no secret. There are both pros and cons, but overall the benefits outweighed the cons,” he said, adding, “demonetisation is like a monkey on my back.” Democracy Wall is a monthly free speech campus initiative organised by ThePrint in collaboration with Facebook. The first event at Amity University campus in Noida featured Sharma, TMC MP Derek O’Brien, actor Richa Chadha, and comedy group Aisi Taisi Democracy. Paytm is India’s payment Super App offering consumers and merchants most comprehensive payment services. Pioneer of mobile QR payments revolution in India, Paytm’s mission is to bring half a billion Indians into the mainstream economy through technology-led financial services. Paytm enables commerce for small merchants and distributes various financial services offerings to its consumers and merchants in partnership with financial institutions.