With the scramble for exchange of old high denomination notes continuing for the third day on Saturday, business and traders in the city reported severe cash crunch and sharp dip in sales over the past few days.
Even though many of the Automated Teller Machines opened in the city, most of them ran dry quickly as people rushed in to draw their daily limit of Rs.2,000. However, most of the bank branches continued to witness heavy rush with people queuing up to exchange the old high denomination notes of Rs.500 and Rs.1000. With Saturday being holiday for a section of employed persons, queues were longer than those in the past couple of days in some of the branches.
On Saturday, many customers were reluctant to accept the new Rs.2000 denomination notes given the shortage of lower denomination notes. In a few bank branches, some of those waiting to exchange the notes were asked to get the money changed at the branches where they have accounts. “I was told, at a nationalised bank branch at Thillai Nagar, to get the currencies exchanged from the branch where I have my account. Hence I had to go to Kattur in the outskirts to get the currencies exchanged,” said V.Baskaran, an autorickshaw driver.
Meanwhile, wholesale and retail traders at the Gandhi Market in the city complained that the severe shortage of small denomination currencies has resulted in a sharp dip in business. “Business has been badly affected. Prices of vegetables have also come down by 10 to 20 per cent. We are unable to make payments to our suppliers and farmers. We are also facing problems in giving change to our customers,” said U.S. Karuppiah of the Gandhi Market United Corporation Approved Permanent and Platform Traders Association.
At the wholesale onion market, from where onions are supplied to Tiruchi and several neighbouring districts, traders reported a sharp slump in business. “Our daily trade has dropped by up to 75 per cent due to shortage of lower denomination currencies. We are unable to make payments to our suppliers and farmers. We are just about managing to pay the transportation charges to the lorry operators and run the rest of the operations on credit based on trust,” said A. Thangaraj, general secretary, Tiruchi Onion Commission Mandi Traders’ Association. According to him several wholesale dealers have restricted purchase and arrival of Bellary onions has also come down to 300 -350 tonnes from the normal average of 500-600 tonnes a day. Similarly, small onion arrivals have come down to 150 tonnes from the normal 300 tonnes a day as wholesale traders are unable to pay cash.
Banana dealers
The banana wholesale dealers in the Gandhi Market have also been affected. “Though arrivals are normal for the season, we are unable to pay cash to the farmers. Since there are few buyers, banana bunches have started rotting at the market. We are mostly running on credit and asking our suppliers to get the payment next week,” said K.P.Palanivel, a banana trader.
