Despite RBI clarification, traders reluctant to accept Rs 10 coins

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 22

Though the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has time and again clarified that the coin of Rs 10 is a legal tender and those refusing to accept it can face legal action, it has failed to deter traders in the city as most of them don’t accept the same.

Shopkeepers, who refuse to accept it, say they have heard that coins of Rs 10 coins issued prior to 2010 are being called back by the RBI and those circulating in the market are fake. The Rs 10 coin was first issued by the RBI in 2009 and since then many versions of it has been issued.

A shopkeeper, Vishal Kumar, said, “We cannot accept Rs 10 coins as wholesalers do not accept these from us. We usually do not go to banks to deposit money. Besides, nobody goes to bank merely to deposit coins and thus we cannot check the authenticity of the coins.” He admitted that mostly small shopkeepers don’t accept the coins.

A domestic help, Reema, says, “I offered a coin of Rs 10 to an auto-rickshaw driver. He was not willing to accept, but when he agreed to give the change for a Rs 100 note. Many people with low income use coins to make small purchases.”

Meanwhile Ravi Razdan, vice-president, Punjab Bank Employees’ Federation, said, “The RBI has issued a clarification, but some people still believe rumours.” He said people should not worry accepting the coins as banks would not refuse them.

Bank employees say such rumours are being spread since the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in November 2016.

A bank employee, who didn’t wish to be named, said, “Nowadays, a message on social media is being circulated that the currency note of Rs 2,000 would be demonetised in the near future.”