With Rs. 2000 bill in hand, how to buy cheap.
Sunita went to buy some sugar, but had to return empty handed after the shopkeeper refused to grace her with the change. She bears a Rs. 2000 currency note freshly introduced after demonetization.
Raghu is quarreling at a gas station. His gas tank is full but the filling person is reluctant to return the cash balance as this would create a precedent for others in the queue to demand change.
These and many other instances have become a common sight in various parts of India following the scrapping of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 bills. No one wants to part with the change. The lesser value bills have suddenly become sacrosanct. A week ago, no one wanted 10s and 100s.
“ ‘Let a hundred guilty be acquitted, but one innocent should not be convicted’ is the guiding principle of Justice. But the way the common man is suffering today to exchange or withdraw his hard-earned money from banks is more like punishing a person for a crime that person has not committed,” said Neeraj Chaudhary, a Chandigarh-based advocate.
People in India, at the same time, have been very creative in utilizing their unaccounted cash. Reserving travel tickets and getting them refunded in their bank accounts, using Pan Card details of others who have just now made lesser deposits, buying US dollars (USD rate against cash reached Rs. 84 with was otherwise Rs. 66.73), charging 30 percent commission for depositing other people’s cash, taking annual memberships of health clubs et cetera. By the way, buying gold is no longer favorable. Government has instructed all jewelers to record Pan Card details of every customer.
Wealthy entrepreneurs are utilizing their ‘cash-in-hand’ option to save at least some black money. Real-estate sector took a big hit. Though in the long run it would stabilize for better.
Other victims include married women.
It is a routine practice in India for ladies, especially married women, to save money in cash for emergency or personal spending. But, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement all have been running pillar to post to explore options to protect their meager monies and keep the secret, too.
“I had to ask a few friends if they could adjust some money that I saved from my husband and mother-in-law,” said Nisha Garg, an IT professional working in Delhi.
In Punjab, one couple ended in a spat after the husband realized that his wife has saved some Rs. 2, 00,000 (about $ 3000) in her bank-locker, without his knowledge. As per media reports, husband was going through a rough patch, financially; and was flabbergasted after being exposed to the secret bounty.
Unfortunately, there have been some fatal incidents too. There were reports of people collapsing after learning that the government has stripped Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 bills. An elderly woman died near a bank on realizing that her two Rs. 1000 bills are no longer legal, according to a media report.