2017-08-05 Sat

The year 2017 has begun with problems as there is a shortage of coins. Everyone from traders, hoteliers, kirana shops, auto drivers to the common man have been finding it hard to arrange coins of Rs 1, Rs 2 Rs 5 and Rs 10.

The president of Mumbai Traders Association says we were getting loose coins from local banks but nowadays, banks are reluctant to give these coins. Therefore, we have no other choice but to purchase it from moneylenders by paying a commission of 20-22 percent on every 100 coins.

Recently, the sudden vanishing of Rs 2000 note from ATMs had made headlines. And now the shortage of coins are adding more problems to the people of India. India Today conducted a survey to find the reasons behind the diminishing number of coins in circulation.

Sources from the RBI told India Today that coins of all denominations are being minted as per the requirements in all four mints in Mumbai, Noida, Hyderabad and Kolkata. "All four mints had produced around 9,550 million coins till March 31. About 2,200 million coins were minted in Mumbai, 2,050 million in Kolkata; 1,500 million in Hyderabad and the rest were produced in Noida. But problems surfaced with the beginning of this fiscal year i.e. after April 1, 2017, thanks to demonetization" a source from Mumbai mint told India Today on condition of anonymity.

An official explains what has led to the shortage of coins. After demonetisation, huge piles of old scrapped notes i.e. Rs 500 and Rs 1000 were kept in currency chest across the country. But the process to destroy these notes is taking a toll and at present we are running out of space to keep these new coins.

Currency chest is the unit of bank that is institutionalized to stock up the excess cash from the inward remittance, without losing the interest revenue and not keeping the money idle in the branches.

In the first quarter of this fiscal year, Mumbai mint produced nearly 650 million coins, out of which almost 500 million coins are still lying untouched. The situation is similar at all the other mints, where no bank officials are ready to pick up these coins and deliver it to bank chests and circulate in the market.

An official also states that the coins are on point as per the target. We have put in extra hours, extra manpower, but last six months, neither the RBI lifted these coins nor did they take any steps to resolve the scarcity problem arising in the market.

The queries sent to RBI by India Today remained unanswered. No one has any clue when the deficiency of coins will end and when the old scrapped notes will get disposed. Till now, people will have to somehow adapt and manage with fewer coins.