K.K.Vohra hands over a coin bag to a businessman at the coin-exchange programme. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Ranchi, July 28: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) distributed coins of various denominations amounting to Rs 23.5 lakh today.

At a programme jointly organised by the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) and State-level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC), K.K. Vohra, the regional director of RBI (Bihar-Jharkhand) distributed the coins in exchange of currency notes.

RBI would further send coins worth another Rs 16.5 lakh during the week.

However, the FJCCI personnel told RBI officials that branches of scheduled commercial banks in the state capital were not doing their duty. of exchanging paper notes for coins. “Banks excuse themselves by saying they don’t have adequate staff to carry out jobs. This results in a situation where several face a scarcity of coins,” said Manoj Naredi, the FJCCI president.

The argument of smuggling of coins outside the state was rejected by both FJCCI and the RBI officials.

Chamber officials said that the scarcity of coins has arisen because the scheduled commercial banks have not fulfilled their role.

Vohra, meanwhile, warned that if banks do not carry out the coin exchange programme, RBI would not take any action against them. “RBI would be issuing directions to earmark one counter in each branch which would facilitate coin exchange. If any bank is found escaping its duty, we should be informed and we could take action,” he said.

Businessmen took benefit of the coin exchange programme today. They were in such a hurry to exchange paper currency with coins that the meet looked more like a “marketplace”.

“I incur a loss of about Rs 200 everyday due to scarcity of coins,” said Prakash Sahu, a businessman. He said he is forced to forgo up to Rs 1-2 from each customer as they fail to give them the right amount.

Some businessmen said they try and substitute the “change amount” for sweets. “But most customers frown at us if we are unable to give them the change,” said Sidharth Kumar, another businessman. The FJCCI also pointed out another practice of the banks, which is “forced” on the customers. “Several commercials banks have now created cheque boxes and have asked customers to drop their cheques for clearance. They should formally receive the cheques so that the customer has a proof of receipt,” said Naredi.

Vohra took a strong exception to this practice. “Let me know in writing which are the branches forcing customers to drop their cheques into boxes and we will ensure discipline,” he said.