Packed in four large sacks, Tamil Nadu man buys Rs 6 lakh car with Rs10 coins; here is how he collected the amount

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Chandigarh, June 21

A penny saved is a penny gained. The thought may have crossed the mind of 27-year-old Vetrivel from Tamil Nadu who decided to save every single Rs 10 coin when he saw schoolchildren at his family-owned Smart Kids Public School playing with the coins as if they were worthless playthings. And he bought his Rs 6 lakh dream car with four sacks full of Rs 10 coins.

Vetrivel told News18: “It was as if the Rs 10 coin had no value at all. The children were playing games with like these were metal pieces. I noticed that even their parents believed the Rs 10 denomination coins to be worthless. Banks refused to accept them, business establishments wouldn’t take them. That’s when I made the decision that I will make it my mission to show that it is legal tender.”

When you want to make a statement with 10 rupee coins….buy a car worth 6 lakhs with it. Vetrivel of dharmapuri wanted to tell India that Rs 10 is legal tender. pic.twitter.com/6nbBIBFaUY

— Rohini Swamy (@Rohini_Swamy) June 20, 2022

Another incident that left a lasting impression on Vetrivel, who is a doctor by profession, was when he went to a restaurant with his family and tendered a Rs 10 coin as part of his bill payment. The cashier refused to accept it despite Ventrivel’s argument that it was legal.

“Instead, the cashier spoke so rudely and made it look as if we were giving him fake money. This made my resolve stronger. It became important to collect Rs 10 coins and buy an item of value to show to the world,” he said.

On February 8, Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State for Finance, in a written reply clarified that Rs 10 coins in various sizes circulated by the RBI were indeed legal tender.

He was responding to a query in the Rajya Sabha about coins of Rs 10 not being accepted in many parts of the country presuming they were fake.

In his response, Chaudhry said, “Coins of Rs 10 of various sizes, themes and designs, minted under authority of the Government of India and circulated by the Reserve Bank of India, are legal tender and can be used as legal tender in all transactions.”

Then an idea hit Vetrivel and he decided to buy a car only with Rs 10 coins.

In a month’s time, he collected the coins. “I had to convince the dealership where I had planned to buy the car why I wanted to use Rs 10 coins. At first they refused. But it required a lot of convincing on my part until they agreed. But the clause was that I should deliver the money to their bank account personally and ensure it gets accepted. It was only after that the deal would be completed,” Vetrivel said.

So he requested that payments at his school and medical practice to be made only through Rs 10 coins. The doctor said people were more than willing to do that and the only hiccup was that many did not have these coins at their disposal.

Asked whether he bought the car of his choice or had to compromise based on the amount of coins he collected, Vetrivel said he had planned to buy a Maruti Eco as it would help in the transportation of schoolchildren and bought the vehicle of his choice.

“This car cost me Rs 6 lakh. If the car I wanted cost Rs 12 lakh, I would have collected that much worth of coins and then bought it.”