NPCI revives R.K. Laxman’s Common Man to promote digital payment safety

UPI has become the most common method of payment in India, making transactions easy, safe and real time. However, with the rise of digital payments, scammers are continually devising new schemes. From phishing to fake payment links, every day, another unsuspecting individual falls victim to these tactics.

When conning an average Indian became commonplace, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and The Times of India, decided to bring back someone who has been the voice of Indians for over seven decades—R.K. Laxman’s iconic ‘Common Man’. A character who has been a part of the Indian cultural fabric thanks to his witty observations and relatable predicaments. The Common Man represented the everyday Indian—quiet, resilient, and most importantly, sharp when it counts.

The face of the masses, a voice of the overlooked, the Common Man talked about pressing issues troubling the country that were often left unaddressed. With the country going digital over the past few years, more opportunities and problems have arisen—one of the latter being social engineering scams. Hence, the Common Man needed to come back in his ‘Conman Vs Common Man’ avatar to address the growing concern around digital payment safety and do it in his own witty and non-preachy way.

As the creative partner of the campaign, tgthr. revived the original comic strip format, humorously illustrating the Common Man outwitting a conman trying to trick him with the latest scam. Whether it’s an investment fraud or a phishing scheme, the Common Man’s unassuming stature became the vehicle for promoting digital payment safety.

tgthr. is the creative, designing agency behind the campaign, helping NPCI bring more such scams to light with the Common Man comic strip, which will appear in Hindi, English, Kannada and Marathi across multiple newspapers.

Aalap Desai, co-founder & CCO, tgthr., says, “A smarter strain of crime calls for a smarter kind of criminal. Scammers today are ever-evolving and highly tech-savvy, using social engineering to scam people out of their life savings. With NPCI, we realised that the reason for this evolution is that awareness drastically reduces the success rate of these scams. It might sound like a cliché, but the answer was in the brief itself. The need of the time is a widely popular character, recognised by the whole country, with wit that remained unchanged in an ever-changing world, so even a layman can laugh and learn at the same time. Reminds you of someone?”

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Sameer Sainani, president of Optimal Media Solutions, says, “Our iconic ‘Common Man’ has been a witness to every event that has defined India. Digital payments, a defining moment in our nation's tech prowess, have seen widespread adoption, notwithstanding emerging challenges. tgthr. has successfully captured the essence of this beloved character for NPCI's digital safety initiative. By utilising the ‘Common Man's’ signature wit and innocent humour to address the growing concern of digital duping shows a powerful problem-solving approach. This has resonated with today’s India, making it a potent tool in combating scams."

Ramesh Yadav, chief of marketing, NPCI, said, “We’re excited to partner with The Times of India and the Common Man to promote digital payment safety. As digital transactions become more widespread, it’s crucial to understand how to use them securely. This campaign educates everyone on avoiding scams through an engaging narrative. By reintroducing the Common Man, we emphasise the timeless values of caution and insight, helping everyone navigate the digital world safely.”

‘Conman Vs Common Man’ campaign is an effort to enable more Indians to reap the benefits of the ease, safety and convenience of UPI. It encourages users to take ownership of their digital payment safety, with the hope of India becoming a cashless, safe, and secure economy.