Amidst press releases and awareness campaigns by the RBI on Rs. 10 coins being legal tenders, people of Bangalore are still refusing to accept Rs. 10 coins; thereby jeopardizing their circulation.
By Sanchari Ghatak
Traders, vendors, city’s premier shopping and eating outlets, as well as customers continue to refuse to accept Rs. 10 coins, thereby disrupting their circulation in the market. Despite repeated instructions by the RBI through press releases and awareness campaigns, traders and vendors refuse to accept the validity of a Rs. 10 coin, which is legal tender. This resultant accumulation of Rs. 10 coins in the locker of the almirahs of almost every household and trading unit in Bangalore has created a considerable amount of inconvenience.
Akhil Jain, a resident of Bangalore said, “even though I usually use my cards for transactions, yet I have a lot of Rs. 10 coins stacked at my place, almost amounting to over Rs. 2000. I have acquired most of these from bus conductors and am unable to spend them anywhere else except in buses.”
The RBI has instructed the KSRTC and the BMRCL to mandatory accept Rs. 10 coins from any commuter who offers to pay for their ticket with it. The RBI has also instructed all banks to mandatorily accept any amount of Rs. 10 coins that the public brings with them to put back in their accounts. “We are urging everyone in Bangalore to call us at 080-22180113-114, in case a bank refuses to accept Rs. 10 coins, or just visit the RBI website and file their respective complaints,” said Ashish, a RBI official at the enquiry desk.
Madhav Talikoti, another resident of Bangalore said, “Before the demonetization the same happened with Rs. 5 notes. People suddenly stopped using them, fearing it is no more a legal tender. Once a few people started this trend, all others followed suit.”
The owner of a pharmacy and a general store who refuses to accept Rs. 10 coins, said, “How can I be the only one accepting Rs. 10 coins when nobody else will accept those back from me?” This scenario persists even across shopping malls and premium fast food outlets all over Bangalore.
“In order to gain confidence of the public, the authorities concerned should first make sure that elite outlets and shopping malls are accepting these Rs. 10 coins,” said IIM-B’s professor, Ritwik Banerjee of the economics department.
Most people are unaware of the press releases issued by the RBI and the consequences of not accepting these coins. Sagnik Ghosh, a shopper at Mantri Square mall said, “I am completely unaware of these press releases, the authorities should have done a better job at spreading awareness among the people regarding the issue.” He also accepted that he is unaware of the fact that they can file a complaint against anyone who refuses to accept legal tender, under the Coinage Act, 2011.
The Inspector of JC Road Police Station commented saying, “These topics are only good for debates; very few people will actually take the trouble to file complaints against the non-takers of Rs. 10 coins.” He further added that no complaints have been filed so far at the JC Road police station about not accepting these coins.
