Small change, big problem

Bengal:  Has a bank or a trader refused accepting money in the form of coins from you?  Traders in several south Bengal districts are facing this problem in plenty.They are in possession of a large number of coins, given to them by banks in the first few weeks after the demonetisation announcement, which the banks are now refusing to accept. In Birbhum's Suri, a farmer had been handed over Rs 10,000 in two-rupee coins. The bank had given 5,000 coins in two plastic packets that weighed almost 30kg. Grocer Gobinda Biswas said he had Rs 50,000 in coins of different denominations. "I got the coins from banks and customers. But when I went to the bank to deposit the coins, the officials refused to take them. I am in big trouble," Biswas said. Several small traders in Birbhum said they were trying to sell their wares in round figures to avoid being paid in coins. A petrol pump owner has been forced to put up a notice expressing inability to take coins. Indrajit Roy, the owner of the pump, said: "We accepted the coins from customers thinking the banks would take them. I have around Rs 4 lakh in coins. But the banks aren't accepting coins." In Murshidabad's Behrampore, petrol pump owner Obaidullah Islam said he had Rs 40,000 in 5-rupee and 10-rupee coins. Several bank officials said they lacked manpower to count coins. "You have to think about our problem too. When we gave the coins to customers, they came in sealed bags of the Reserve Bank that did not require counting. But now if a person comes to deposit coins worth, say, Rs 1 lakh, we will have to deploy at least two employees to count them and pack them into the vault," a senior bank official in Suri said. In Nadia, bank officials said though no rule prevented them from accepting the coins, they were turning away customers with piles of coins. "If you ask me for an official comment, I would say yes we are accepting coins. But if you allow me to tell the truth, I would say coins are not being accepted at the moment," the manager of a nationalised bank in Krishnagar said. But for Jayanta Upadhaya, a bakery owner in Tehatta, the problem of coins seems to be mounting. In the past two months, Upadhaya has accumulated Rs 60,000 in coins. "What will I do? If I do not accept coins, how will I do business?"