NEW DELHI: Traders in the city are amused as the majority of customers are bringing only Rs 2,000 currency notes while UPI payments have declined. Traders said that they are accepting Rs 2,000 currency notes even as many people are buying stuff of just Rs 100-200 to get rid of the currency notes after the Reserve Bank in a surprise move on Friday announced the withdrawal of the note from circulation.
A trader in Sarojini Nagar market said that he hadn’t seen Rs 2,000 currency notes in past months but now every other person is bringing this currency note for buying goods. People seem to get rid of Rs 2,000 currency notes instantly even as the central bank gave the public time till September 30 to either deposit such notes in accounts or exchange them at banks.
Unlike the November 2016 shock of demonetisation, when old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were invalidated overnight, the Rs 2,000 currency notes will continue to be legal tender. “We got many complaints from traders yesterday that suddenly people coming with cash have increased. Till the day before yesterday, everybody wanted to do UPI and now suddenly they are bringing cash,” said Sarojini Nagar mini market association’s president Ashok Randhawa.
When asked whether traders are accepting the notes, Randhawa said, “We have told traders to accept the notes if they can because it is affecting our business. Many people are just coming to shop to get rid of the notes. So there is no point in asking them to pay via UPI.
“Moreover after recent SBI announcement, we are relieved.’ In a communication to the chief general manager of all its local head offices, State Bank of India (SBI) informed that the facility of exchange of Rs 2,000 currency notes by the public up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time will be allowed without obtaining any requisition slip.
Markets are thronging with customers carrying bundles of 2000 rupee notes, said K K Balli, president of the Association of Wholesale Readymade Garment Dealers (Gandhi Nagar). “We knew it soon after the announcement about Rs 2000 notes that many people will rush to market to get rid of these bank notes,” said Balli.