When people came shopping for change and not goods

The trade hub, comprising mostly hawkers, is a place where heavy cash transactions take place on a daily basis. With people finding it difficult to exchange the demonetised Rs 1,000 and Rs 500, for legal tender, business in T Nagar has been affected in a big way.

M Anwar, who runs a shop on Ranganathan streets said, “The business has been slow since Wednesday. I haven’t sold a single item from then till now (Friday). Usually, I make a few hundred rupees by afternoon, but till now no one has come to shop.” 

Many hawkers have shut shop. “We are leading a hand-to-mouth existence now,” says S Sunil, a fashion jewellery seller on Usman Road. “Usually, we have to shut shop during rains because no one comes out around that time. We are prepared for that, since rains last only a few days. But now, people have very limited cash in hand and they will not spend money on street shopping. For urgent needs they go to places where they can swipe their cards. So, I decided to shut shop and finish my own bank work and get the new notes.” 

With the wedding season on and the Christmas and New Years sale planned, the hawkers here were expecting a good footfall by November end. “The announcement came as a surprise, we did not have any time to prepare. We had received fresh stock for the New Year, but we have no idea how are things going to be in the coming days.”

Traders say people approach them asking for change. “We deal in cash only. Many customers approached us on Wednesday and asked if we could give them change for Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 and even offered to buy some items. While most of us refused, some continued to accept those ‘banned’ notes and made the shoppers buy for Rs 200 at least,” said Prakash, another hawker.