Some had packed up and left, while others wound down the clock by taking a walk or chatting over a cup of tea. Touts at the usually buzzing complex that houses the Regional Transport Office, the Sub-Registrar’s office and an Indian Railways reservation centre in Noida’s Sector 33 were simply waiting and watching on Thursday.
Business down by 80%
Since the government withdrew Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes, the subsequent liquidity crunch has hit business for touts, who rely on small cash payments. For the 150-odd touts outside the Noida complex, about 80 per cent of business had evaporated in the week since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation announcement.
Govind, who calls himself an “advisor” on all things related to RTO, said that not only was work down, but some clients were still trying to use the old currency notes.
Turning away clients
Another RTO tout, Kunal Verma (name changed), said he had seen only two customers on Thursday, down from the average 10 he would get before the cash crunch. “I had to turn those two away as they did not have money,” he said.
Ravi Agarwal, a stamp paper vendor, said he was left with barely 20 per cent of the daily business he would get on an ordinary day.
“Even though our work is suffering, this is a good move. It is affecting the common people right now, but if black money is removed, it is worth it,” he said.
As the touts wait for business, the transport, registrar and railway offices themselves have seen the usually long queues shrink.
The scene was similar at a Passport Seva Kendra at Delhi’s Herald House.
Usually busy, there appeared to be no rush outside the passport office on Thursday.
According to Rama Nath Jha, executive director of Transparency International India, this was because the “delivery of services” had been hit.
He added that once cash flow is restored and services bounce back, so would petty corruption as the demand for quick access to services would increase.
Need more tax reforms
“Petty corruption will not be affected in the long-run. But, demonetisation of high-value currency notes in circulation is a conventional method to curb corruption,” said Mr. Jha.
However, he did say that long-lasting change would only happen if the ongoing “note wapsi ” was followed by “strong anti-corruption laws, tax reforms, digitisation of property transfer and more use of technology in governance.”
Experts say that strong anti-corruption laws must
follow to ensure
long-lasting change
