BHOPAL : Despite the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, the Railways are returning balance amount in these notes to passengers buying tickets or making reservations from counters at the Bhopal Railway Station. The same is being done in cases of refunds for cancellations.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has flooded the banks with low denomination notes of Rs 100, Rs 50, Rs 20 and Rs 10. There is such a glut of these notes that even customers have started refusing to accept them. But for reasons best known to the authorities, the railways are not having these notes.
Passengers say that the railway officials are creating an artificial crisis.
The Union government had demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes from November 9. The Railways, were, however, allowed to accept the scrapped notes from the public but surely not to give them to the public. The Railways, by all accounts, is committing an illegality by giving these notes to the people. A senior Railway officer, on condition of anonymity, said, “We return money in old currencies to passengers from counters as we are short of Rs 100 and lower denomination notes. We tell the passengers to wait but the problem is that how long, they can wait. Ultimately, they themselves demand old currencies as they have trains to catch.
REVERSE DEMONETISATION
“We do not know which notes they are having and which they are not. But they always tell us to either pay the exact amount or wait for the balance money. After a while, they offer to pay in the old notes. And since we cannot wait till eternity, we accept them”.
Vina Masani
Why can’t the railways arrange for low-denomination notes, which are available aplenty in various banks? After all, they are a big government department” l Bhavika
“I was given only two choices: either wait at the counter for hours or accept scrapped notes. And I chose the latter”. l Vishal Yadav
The Union government should look into the matter. If its own department will commit such an illegality, what would others do?
l Ravi Batham
