Massive queues were witnessed for the second day on Wednesday at petrol pumps across Punjab, Haryana and their joint Capital Chandigarh, as shopkeepers stopped accepting Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes and several shops remained closed.
The moment the decision was announced, long ques formed at the petrol pumps on Tuesday night and throughout the day on Wednesday, it continued.
Many people said they wanted to fill up fuel to get rid of the Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes while others pointed out that they felt it was better to have their tank full “in the present scenario”.
Petrol pumps are the only place where one could dispose off these higher denomination currency. Similar scenes were witnessed at many petrol pumps across Punjab and Haryana.
At many petrol pumps, people were refused change on the grounds that there was shortage of Rs100 and lower denomination currency and were asked to give exact amount for which they wanted to buy fuel.
While serpentine queues were witnessed at the pumps, many market places, however, registered poor footfall. “The business is poor today. Not many people have made purchases today,” said a garment showroom owner here.
Many people lamented that most of the shopkeepers had stopped accepting the Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes and an acute shortage of the notes of smaller denominations was seen everywhere.
At many places the shopkeepers put up display boards, stating that they were not accepting the demonetised currency.
However, some shopkeepers developed their own methods to tide over the situation. “A shopkeeper accepted the notes of higher denomination and gave me signed slips mentioning the balance amount after I had made the purchases,” said a lady. who had gone to buy some articles in a market here.
People at many places in Punjab and Haryana including Chandigarh said that they faced difficulty in purchasing items of daily need like milk and bread, as those supplying these items refused to accept Rs500 or Rs1,000 currency notes.
People also faced hardships in using public transport as there was shortage of lower denomination currency notes.
A patient, who visited a private doctor here, said he was turned away when he made a cash payment of Rs500 as the doctor’s fee. “The staff at the doctor’s clinic said that I could either pay the amount in lower denomination currency or make payment through debit card,” he said.