Railway, metro stations, petrol pumps, BEST run out of change, refuse to accept large currency notes
Serpentine queues seen at petrol pumps this morning. Pic/Shrikant Khuperkar
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Queues at railway stations, petrol pumps and toll booths were much longer than usual today after the prime minister’s bombshell last night.
At stations
Serpentine queues were seen at railway stations today with most people flashing R500 notes to the ticketing staff. Railways officials said this was leading to arguments between staff and commuters. “The counters have exhausted change,” said a railway official.
On road
Mobile aggregators made brisk business, with surge hitting a peak today. “I was looking to book an Uber from Borivli to Bandra and was shocked to see a surge of up to R550 for a trip that I usually pay around Rs 150-170,” said a passenger.
Taufiq Shaikh (29), an Ola driver said, “I don’t mind accepting R500 from the customer, but, I have no change to return.”
Cabbies and auto drivers were seen plying short distances to avoid accepting R500 or R1,000 notes. “The drivers preferred running short distances as people were using mobile aggregators for longer journeys,” said AL Quadros, taxi union leader.
At the airport, taxis and prepaid counters refused to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. “I have asked the drivers to adjust for the time being,” said Guddu Singh, union leader at the airport.
Petrol pumps
From last night, the demand for petrol/diesel surged to such an extent that motorists were waiting for an average of 30 minutes to get tanks filled. By the morning, most of the petrol pumps of the total 223 in Mumbai started shutting down after running dry.
“Underground tanks have been exhausted and so the petrol pump owners had to shut them,” said Ravi Shinde, President, Petrol Dealers Association. Petrol pumps are accepting large currency notes until November 11.
Not the BEST time
BEST has asked conductors not to accept notes of R500 or R1,000 from today. “We have asked conductors and electricity billing counters not to accept R500 and R1,000 notes,” said H Gophane, spokesperson, BEST Undertaking. Metro rail, too, stopped accepting R500 and R1,000 notes and there were arguments going on at metro station counters. “People can use the e-payment option for renewing smart,” said a spokesperson from Mumbai Metro Rail.
Traffic offenders flashing R500 and R1,000 notes were handed receipts and told to pay when banks open in two days. Milind Bharambe, Joint commissioner of Police (Traffic), said, “We are issuing challans to motorist and asking them to deposit the fine.”
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