Small traders and business people are reluctant to accept the new Rs2,000 currency notes fearing the government might withdraw them and because of high possibility of they being fake.

“Where will the traders go if the government withdraws Rs2,000 note?” asked Sandeep Bansal, President of Uttar Pradesh Udyog Vyapar Mandal.

Rishi Pal, a trader in Haryana’s Hisar, recalled the problems business community faced after Rs1,000 and Rs500 notes were culled on November 2016 and said they didn’t want to undergo a similar pain again.

A Whatsapp message being circulated claims that the government will withdraw the Rs2,000 note like Rs1,000/500 notes demonetised last November. A similar message was circulated in October 2016 saying that Rs1,000/500 would be withdrawn.

The RBI has rubbished the latest Whatsapp message but on July 27 said printing of Rs2,000 notes stopped about five months ago to step up the production of smaller bills, including a new Rs200 note.

The central bank is also unlikely to print more 2000-rupee notes in the current financial year, RBI officials said on condition of anonymity.

The government brought in the 2000-rupee note to quickly tide over a cash crunch from demonetisation, but fewer lower-value currency in circulation meant people struggled to change the big denomination bill. The RBI’s focus now on printing small bills is aimed at bridging that gap.

But, there are other reasons also for traders being reluctant in accepting Rs2,000 notes.

A small businessman in Hyderabad said customers are not willing to accept Rs2,000 notes and prefer Rs500 notes. Echoing similar sentiments, Jitendra Kumar, a trader in Haryana’s Karnal, said customers prefer Rs100 and Rs500 notes as getting change for Rs2,000 for small transaction is difficult.

Sanjay Gupta president of Uttar Pradesh Adarsh Vyapar Mandal said the traders are not willing to accept Rs2,000 as “getting smaller currency for Rs2,000 notes, even from banks”, was not easy.

The Rs2,000 note acceptance has been further hit by messages warning against high circulation of fake Rs2,000 notes.

In Bhopal, some traders are not accepting Rs2,000 note after news of fake high denomination currency notes went viral.

“I don’t accept Rs 2000 notes from unknown customers as there are many fake notes being circulated in the market. I stopped accepting such notes from unknown customers from January-February itself,” said Ramesh Keswani, owner of a provisional store in the capital city of central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Rishi Pal, who runs pesticide shop in Indri of Karnal said, “We are taking Rs2,000 note but we examine it twice because of rumour about the fake currency notes”.

Traders in some other places like Jaipur, Ranchi, Kashmir, Delhi and Mumbai, however, said there was no problem in conducting business in Rs2,000 notes.

Source: Hindustan Times