Got Some Change?

Let’s talk about one common problem with the available denominations of the Indian Currency – the fact that there are things available at prices for which coins/notes of right denominations are scarce, and which is forcing a lot of vendors in the unorganized sector to price their products at the higher and nearest round figures, or charge somewhat like that with the difference either covered with Dairy Milk Éclairs or just a plain simple thhenga. We may even be adding, as a result, to some inflation (unaccounted) and consumption (unwanted) in the economy. (Who would buy Dairy Milk Éclairs otherwise?)

There is one Panipuri shop in Magarpatta (Pune) where the shopkeeper refuses to give any change that is not in multiples of 10. But his Panipuri is priced at Rs.15.00 per plate. So you have to either pay him the exact amount of Rs.15.00, or eat 2 more Panipuris by paying Rs.20.00 or not eat there at all, which he doesn’t mind. Interestingly, he always readily accepts when you pay him exact Rs.15.00, but whenever I didn’t have change, he didn’t have it either, or he just said so, and he didn’t bother if I went away and ate somewhere else. And this kind of stuff keeps happening very often with me these days. And probably even with Chikni Chameli, jo pahua chadha ke hazaaron ke note khulla chhutta karaane aayi! Some vendors even forgo a few bucks here and there, as running around for change is not always worth the effort.

So the point is - most of India still transacts in cash and coins, but sadly, we are not minting them enough to allow ourselves all combinations so as to easily arrive at any odd natural number.