VIJAYAWADA: Not many people turned up at banks in the State for exchanging or depositing Rs 2,000 notes on Tuesday. Same was the case at shopping centres as not many people used Rs 2,000 notes to pay bills for the goods purchased. This was despite the fact that several commercial establishments, retail liquor outlets and others declined to accept Rs 2,000 notes even as the Reserve Bank of India made it clear that the note continues to be legal tender.
In Visakhapatnam, the use of Rs 2,000 notes by general public at petrol pumps and general stores increased. Notably, fuel stations have become the preferred destinations to make transactions with Rs 2,000 notes. Hence, the managements of fuel stations displayed boards informing vehicle owners that only a maximum of 10 notes of Rs 2,000 will be accepted per day at their outlets.
Speaking to TNIE, Ramgopal Reddy, Indian Oil petrol pump manager at Akkayapalem, said, “The following day after the news became public, individuals exchanged up to a maximum of 60 notes of Rs 2,000 denomination with us. However, when I visited the SBI to deposit the money in our current account, I was unaware that only Rs 20,000 of Rs 2,000 denomination notes could be deposited in a single day. Hence, we displayed a notice at our petrol pump, informing vehicle owners that a maximum of 10 notes of Rs 2,000 will be accepted per day. Some customers have expressed their frustration with us for imposing a restriction on acceptance of Rs 2,000 notes.”
“Since there is much time for public to exchange Rs 2,000 notes, we do not see any rush or panic among them. People are generally coming deposit money through CDMs. As of now, we don’t see any rush or panic among people,” a Union Bank official of Vijayawada said.
Meanwhile, realtors are hoping that the public with a huge number of Rs 2,000 notes may opt for purchasing villas and flats. Speaking to TNIE, Alla Siva Reddy, Chairman of CREDAI, said, “Frankly, no realtor in the State is having money as there has been no business for the past few years and several realtors have left the State. But we are hoping that the people who are having excess notes of Rs 2,000 denomination may come to purchase villas and flats. We are ready to accept Rs 2,000 notes until September 30 as the RBI assured that all the transactions will be accepted till that date.”
Thota Rambabu, owner of Srinivasa Opticals, Suryaraopet, said, Rs 2,000 notes were not in rotation and small businessmen kept Rs 2,000 notes at a distance for quite a long time due to change problem.
Velpuri Nagamani, owner of Jahnavi Bakery, said she refused to accept when a few customers wanted to pay the bills with Rs 2,000 notes.
In Tirupati, not many people turned up to deposit or exchange Rs 2,000 notes at the bank branches or cash deposit machines. Venkaiah, owner of Hotel Sindhuri Park, said, “About 80% of transactions made by customers at our hotel are cashless and a miniscule amount comes in the form of Rs 2,000 notes, which we continue to accept as the RBI has given four months time to deposit the notes in banks.” When asked if there has been any surge in the bill payments in the form of Rs 2,000 notes, he replied in negative.