PARADIP: Coins are a problem for the traders in the district. They just are not getting enough of them. According to market sources, coins of several small denominations have fallen short in the district. There is a dearth of 50 paise, one, two, five and 10 rupee coins at present, which is affecting small retailers and consumers. From grocery stores to garment outlets; telephone bill counters to big shopping malls, shortage of coins is a problem faced by one and all. Most of the traders are now managing with providing chocolates and biscuits in lieu of change to customers.Cashing in on, some youths have also started trading in coins for commission. They have opened unofficial ‘coin markets’ where they collect coins in exchange of currency notes from various sources including from beggars and temple priests and sell them to those in need of ‘change’. With traders always short of coins, many of them are willing to part with a small commission for coins in exchange of currency notes. These youths collect ` 10 or above as commission for every 100 one rupee coins. One of these youths Satrughan Swain admitted that he collects coins worth ` 500 to ` 1,000 from beggars and priests and earns ` 50 daily by selling them. To mitigate the problem, while United Bank of India had installed its own coin vending machine, a currency chest has been opened at the State Bank of India, Jagatsinghpur branch, to supply coins to branches of other nationalised banks. As many as 15 nationalised banks are functioning at Jagatsinghpur, there are 12 in Paradip.UBI branch manager A K Satpathy said the bank’s coin vending machine has been lying defunct which is why it has not been able to supply coins to people. “Delay in supply of coins by the RBI is the primary cause behind the shortage,” he said, adding that RBI sends the required number of coins to Nayabazaar and Paradip UBI branches. Sources in other nationalised banks said the SBI Jagatsinghpur branch too has not supplied coins to them through its currency chest from June last. SBI branch manager Alekh Chandra Deura said non-supply of adequate number of currencies and coins to the currency chest of the bank by RBI is resulting in shortage. Meanwhile, locals including traders and businessmen, have sought intervention of RBI and the State Government to get over the artificial shortage of coins in the district.
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