The decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to scrap higher denomination currency notes from Tuesday midnight caught people unawares, resulting in them having a harrowing time on Wednesday.
People found it difficult to travel in buses and other modes of transport as they could not carry currency notes of small denominations to pay for the facility.
Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes were not accepted at petrol pumps, shops, hotels, and toll gates.
Scores of vehicles were stranded at toll plazas on National Highway-44 as users could not pay toll charges using the invalidated currency.
Roadside eateries, vegetable and fruit vendors, hawkers, pushcart owners, tea sellers and even cinema theatres did not accept bigger notes.
Consequently, markets appeared sluggish and financial transactions were badly affected. People seemed to be in utter confusion over the fate of the notes that were in their possession.
Homemakers, who approached post offices to exchange their currency, were left disappointed. As banks and ATMs remained closed since Tuesday midnight, shops and supermarkets had minimal business transactions.
