Commuters carrying scrapped notes hit hard

NASHIK: Commuters travelling within the city and outside faced a harrowing time on Wednesday as rickshaw drivers, bus conductors and even the railway booking staff politely refused to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, saying that they did not have change.
Railway Protection Force personnel were posted at the railway station to maintain law and order as the booking counters witnessed long queues and commotion.Many commuters were seen exchanging heated words with the railway staff, who were not able to accept the banned notes for a lack of change.
"The only place we can tender the banned notes are railway stations at this point of time. However, when we produced these notes at the counters, we had to wait for a long time until we got the change," Rajesh Misar, who wanted to travel to Bhusawal, told TOI.
Eating in trains was another story. Vendors selling food items are poor and do not carry enough cash. Even canteens did not accept the banned currency notes. "We have no option other than taking the change from the railway counters as banks and ATMs are closed. But there too we were forced to wait for passengers who tendered change," Aditya Kulkarni, who was heading for Bhopal, said.
The railway officials pleaded helplessness as they were flooded with the banned notes and had run out of loose currency of other denominations.
"There was no chance to keep some cash with us because the Prime Minister's announcement came late in the evening. Hence we are facing problems," a senior official at the railway station here said.
The railway station has a daily collection of about Rs 28 lakh. "We are not saying no to the banned notes. We are short of change. Today, almost every commuter had Rs 500 note for a Rs 30-ticket to Niphad," the official said.
The railway official, however, added that things are likely to ease tomorrow as they would request banks to exchange money. Similar was the case with the MSRTC. Conductors were seen appealing to commuters to give change. "We understand that the MSRTC may not have that much cash, but imagine the plight of a person who hardly has Rs 20 to Rs 30 in his pocket. A lack of change will only leave him stranded in a corner of the town. What we want is change so that we reach home - that's it," Ragini Rahate, a resident of Nashik road, travelling to Panchavati, said.
"I was forced to wait at the Shalimar bus station to get my money back after the conductor asked three of the fellow commuters to pay me. But that cost me 15 minutes and a delay in reaching my place of work," another resident, Sanjay Mishra, said.
"The maximum fare in the city is Rs 30 and most people carried Rs 500 notes. We get a change of Rs 20 maximum when we start our duty. Even if 50 percent of commuters produce the banned notes, how can a conductor resolve the issue? We finally had to ask the commuters to wait until we got the change from other commuters. Every conductor faced the same challenge," Gopi Rajput, an MSRTC conductor, said.