Business, tourism adversely hit in Shimla

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 17

While patients and small farmers faced shortage of new currency notes, shopkeepers, vendors, hoteliers and restaurant owners reported a dent of over 60 per cent in business for the last nine days in the capital city.

The nationalised banks started dispensing Rs 2,000 new notes in the city from today. But the banks warned that the fake ID proof users to exchange old notes saying that such person could be booked under Sections 415, 416, 417 and 419 of the IPC,

But many customers complained of not getting cash from ATMs, mainly located in suburbs of the city. Even patients at the IGMC were facing problem as diagnostic labs did not accept the banned currency notes. “We wanted to get TMT test done from a private lab as the IGMC has no testing facility, but they did not accept banned currency notes and the test was delayed for four hours due to this before we could arrange new currency notes”, rued Deepak Kumar, an attendant of a patient at IGMC.

“I waited for an hour at Baluganj but there was no cash available in the ATM there, then I came to SBI branch where also I could not get cash due to serpentine queues. Bankers were taking time to load cash,” rued OP Verma, a farmer from neighbouring village in Shimla city.

On the other hand, small traders, marginal farmers and vendors do not maintain bank accounts and so they are facing problems. “We cannot open new accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojna or others as banks refused to do so,” said Mohan Lal, a farmer.

Traders, local businessmen and retailers rued that the demonetisation drive had resulted in a sharp slump in their business ranging from 40 per cent to 60 per cent for the last nine days. There were few tourists in the city as occupancy had dropped to 10 per cent in the last nine days, rued hoteliers.

Meanwhile, the state transport and urban development departments and Shimla municipal corporation (SMC) opened their treasuries for depositing the banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes today. They asked residents that they could pay property tax, road tax, registration fee, rents and penalty and tax arrears, including water and electricity bills, in banned demonetisation till November 24.