Shortage of small coins poses a big problem to the denizens in their daily life.
While 50 paise coins are no longer in circulation, there is an acute shortage of coins of other denominations, even though a maximum number of coins issued by the Reserve Bank of India are in the denomination of Re 1. As a result, people are forced to forgo small change.
Putting the blame on the government for the shortage of coins, a retailer says it is a costly affair to dispense with small change. “We are forced to shell out Rs. 10 for Rs. 100 worth of small change,” explains Venkateswara Rao, a gorcery shop owner, on the busy Gandhi Road.
“We give chocolates or shampoo sachets instead of small change,” says B.Narasimha Rao, a grocery shop owner on the busy Gandhi Road.
Fruits and vegetables are rounded off to nearest multiples of Rs. 5 or Rs. 10.
“I try to satisfy grumbling housewives who make a tough bargain by giving green chilli or curry leaves instead of small change,” adds Mastanamma, a vegetable vendor. They are helpless as many a times, customers enter into heated arguments without bringing small change, complains another vendor Srilakshmi.
Cashing in on the shortage of small change, some youth trade in coins, sourcing them from priests who get ample amount of change on the ‘harati’ plate as also from beggars.
‘Coins Mela’
Realising the gravity of the situation, the public sector Andhra Bank organised a ‘Coins Mela’ in the busy Nellore Bus Stand Centre here.
“The bank gets replenishment of coins from the RBI and make them available not just to bank customers but also to general public by visiting crowded market centres at periodic intervals,” explains Andhra Bank Deputy General Manager K.S.P.R.Murthy while talking to The Hindu here after one such ‘Coins Mela’ at the busy Nellore Bus Stand Centre here.
“We provide each person a maximum of 100 coins each in the denomination of Rs. 10, Rs. 5, Rs. 2 and Re. 1 at a time. In spite of our best efforts, there is always a persistent demand for coins,” he admits.
Coin vending machines
To mitigate the problem, all major banks have installed coin vending machines in their branches for customers to get coins of their choice.
Coin vending machines are not customer-friendly as they dispense with only a limited number of coins each time, says a customer repeatedly trying to get coins of various denominations of his choice at the State Bank of India main branch.
“There is no shortage of coins as such. We place indents with the RBI and make small change available to customers on demand,” adds branch Manager Anjaneyulu.
Fruits and vegetables are rounded off to nearest multiples of Rs. 5 or Rs. 10
