WrittenlyCut

Aastha Jaiswal

Welcome to the WrittenlyCut Podcast. I am AJ, and I break down AI, tech and marketing news like no one else does. Follow along to be 1% smarter today.

Episodes

  1. Sep 25

    No more free UPI in India!

    I scanned a QR code and paid ten rupees for a cup of chai, the money moved into the seller’s bank account. An hour later I split an auto with a friend and sent her forty rupees the same way. A very normal day.Then something odd hit me, no one paid any fees on those transactions. Not the seller or my friend, and definitely not me. But moving money should also cost money right? The servers, the fraud checks, the whole system behind that little green tick. Somebody has to fund all of it, and it is clearly not you.Who actually pays for it then? In this podcast, I cover the exact moment a fee on your payments became illegal, why the government covers only a small slice of what the system actually costs, the apps everyone uses make close to nothing on the thing they're famous for, the time an American card giant complained to Washington about UPI, and the plan to bring a fee back that keeps getting pushed.And this one is particularly well timed. In early August 2026, the Finance Minister tabled amendments to the Payment and Settlement Systems Act that would remove the zero-MDR rule and open the legal door to a merchant fee on UPI. Nothing is final yet, no rate or start date is fixed. The version being discussed points to a small fee of roughly 0.25 to 0.5 percent on payments above 2,000 rupees made to large merchants, while ordinary payments, small shops, and money you send to another person stay free. This video explains the whole fight behind that headline, so you actually understand it while everyone else is panicking.I spent two weeks going through RBI notes, a parliamentary committee report, and NPCI numbers to put this together, so you get the whole picture in fifteen minutes instead of digging through any of it yourself. By the end, you'll never look at that green tick the same way again.

  2. Sep 21

    Why your snacks keep getting smaller | The truth about shrinkflation in India

    This video might hit home, and it’s definitely something you have wondered about.Your Parle-G packet used to weigh 100 grams, today it sits closer to 45. The price didn’t reduce much, but in reality, we lost on the quantity. This is called shrinkflation, and once you notice it, you start seeing it across almost every product in your kitchen.Shrinkflation is when a company keeps the price of a product the same and quietly reduces the quantity you get. Sounds relatable? In this video, I will tell you all about shrinkflation - how it started, what’s legal, and how Indian brands leverage it.I spent 2 weeks working on this, so you don’t need to watch another video or read a book.By the end, you will walk into any grocery store and read the shelves completely differently.Chapters - 0:00 The packet that started all of this0:35 What shrinkflation actually means1:06 Where it began: the 1973 oil crisis2:00 The economist who named it2:45 Why companies love this move3:20 The Parle-G story: 100g to 45g4:25 The Maggi price trick5:06 Every big brand is doing it5:28 Sacred price points explained5:38 What the CEOs actually said5:55 Why five and ten rupees matter so much here6:40 Skimflation and the Cadbury gold foil7:10 The little details you never noticed7:30 Why nobody is regulating this8:15 How shrinkflation hides in official inflation8:55 What France, the UK, Australia and the US do9:40 What this is really costing us9:58 The last thing my grandmother saidIf this made you look at your grocery bag differently, share it with someone who needs to see it.Subscribe to Writtelycut for more such stories.#Shrinkflation #ParleG #Maggi #FMCG #Inflation #IndianEconomy #Skimflation #ConsumerAwareness #Cadbury #Writtelycut

About

Welcome to the WrittenlyCut Podcast. I am AJ, and I break down AI, tech and marketing news like no one else does. Follow along to be 1% smarter today.