As the whole country is trying to cope with the currency crisis post demonetisation process of the Central Government, some of the remote villages in Mizoram have taken to use of ‘paper coupons’ to continue financial transactions in their villages.
Due to lack of currencies of smaller denominations like Rs 100 and Rs 50, the shopkeepers in the villages have started issuing a piece of paper with the amount they have to return written on it to the particular customer. The customer can use this piece of paper to buy other items from the same shop.
“Transactions became difficult for us as there is huge shortage of currencies of smaller denominations. Everyone used their old currencies on the first day and by the second day most of the shopkeepers have exhausted the currencies of smaller denominations,” said lalhanpui, a resident and grocery shop owner of Khawbung village.
“Ours is a small village with 65 households only. Everyone knows everyone by name and by face. So we started this system of giving paper coupons to our customers. They can deposit the old currencies with us while buying stuff. As we don’t not have currency of smaller denomination, we give them a slip with the amount to be returned on it. When the same customer comes next time, he can produce the coupon and buy stuff amounting to the money written on it,” he said.
lalhanpui said that many other villagers in and around have also resorted to use the same paper coupons to deal with the situation.
The problem is that there are only two ATMs belonging to the Mizoram Rural Bank in the village, which had to cater to the need of at least 15 other villages located nearby. Neither of the ATMs located in the remote village have been replenished with new currencies till yesterday, adding to the woes of the people.
“It is difficult for us to go to Aizawl every now and then to exchange the old currencies. I heard that most of the ATMs in Aizawl too have not been replenished. We are going to wait for a day or two so that some amount of currencies gets deposited with us and then we’ll exchange the old currencies together,” said Robert Aiem, another trader.