The markets of the twin towns- Haridwar and Jwalapur- Katehra Bazar which feeds to the localities of BHEl aside from Subhash Nagar and Shivalik Nagar are showing a tremendous downward curve, post-demonetisation. The 450- plus shops of the Jwalapur market which deal with all types of household items aside from the sweet shops have been witnessing a steep fall in the volume of their sales by around 50%. The local traders are upset over the financial loss they have been incurring, things showing no signs of looking up despite the 50-day deadline fixed by the Prime Minister approaching.
Since the November 9 note ban, the buyers are eluding the markets. Things are at their worst over the past one month. The shops which used to have customers waiting for the shutters to be up are looking for customers to trickle in. Most of the gifts shops and garment shops are downing shutters by 8 pm with gloomy faces.
A seller of hosiery items Mukesh Ahuja said he had installed swipe machines to encourage the buyers to come. “But most of the time, the transactions are not done on account of some PIN errors or connectivity problems. The customers avoid coming to shops and they do online shopping using credit cards instead to avoid hassles and to get wider range too.”
Owner of a newly opened mart said, “We look to the winter for our business volume to look up. But this winter, things are dismal. The customers are coming with limited budget. So many winter items are in stock. But they are remaining unsold. The customers are choosing to keep cash for exigency, given the volatility in the situation.”