CHENNAI: Although railways and transport corporations accept the demonetised currencies, the going has not been smooth for those manning the ticket counters.
Some passengers are bent upon getting their defunct currencies exchanged. “They do not come to book tickets,” officials said.
On Sunday afternoon, a railway official and a middle- aged man got into a heated altercation at the ticket counter in Moore Market complex, after the latter wanted a ticket for Rs 50 by tendering Rs 500 currency.
But the official refused to issue a ticket after telling him that he was only inclined in getting the Rs 500 currency exchanged.
A ‘Please tender exact change’ board was kept at the Anna Nagar Passenger Reservation Counter.
Staff there said train reservation, in terms of volume, has not come down and that they will accept old notes till Monday. “But, since we are running low on change, passengers are asked to wait,” a staff said. But passengers have one grievance. “If we tender a Rs 1,000 note, we get back a defunct Rs 500 currency. What do we do with that?” R Kannappan (50) said.
At the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus reservation counter, staff say there has been a 50 per cent drop in advance bookings since demonetisation. But, problems are aplenty for those who decide to take long-distance buses from CMBT.
A group of SETC personnel told Express about the ordeal faced by one of their colleagues. “A bus hadto be diverted to a police station enroute on Sunday, after a few passengers on board demanded change. Only after being pacified by police personnel, the bus continued on its journey,” said a driver, on condition of anonymity.
“We can return the balance only if we get them from passengers. What can we do if all of them tender Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currencies,” he said in a exasperated tone.
To avoid unpleasantness, conductors tell commuters in advance that they can board the bus only if they have the exact change. As a result, returns from a one-way trip has dropped from the usual Rs 12,000 to around Rs 7,000, said another conductor, operating on the Chennai- Salem route.