Fuel stations in state turn into ‘banks’ for exchanging ₹2k notes

Ranchi: While banks are expected to begin exchange of 2,000 denomination from Tuesday several petrol pumps in the city are witnessing a surge in the high-value notes from customers trying to spend the currency. Many pump operators said the trend has led to a rise in sales, but rued that it is posing problems for them in returning the ‘change’ to the customers.
On Monday, the Jharkhand Petroleum Dealers’ Association (JPDA) issued an advisory to the petrol pump owners to put up posters informing customers that Rs 2,000 note will be accepted only if fuel is bought against the entire amount.
An employee at a Karamtoli-based petrol pump said, “Many customers have started paying us with Rs 2,000 notes for the past few days. I used to get one or two notes of this denomination from customers in a day. But now, we get a minimum of 20-25 notes a day.”
She, however, said they are facing the issue of returning the change. “While some would get their tanks full, many two-wheelers pay 2,000 against the purchase of fuel worth only 100 or 200. Returning change to them is becoming an issue for us now. When we ask them to pay through card or online, they say they don’t have cash in their account. We are forced to return the change as people don’t tell us in advance whether the payment will be made in cash or online,” she added.
The city has around 78 fuel pumps.
JPDA spokesperson and owner of a city-based petrol pump Pramod Kumar said, “There has been a substantial surge in the circulation of Rs 2,000 notes. Earlier at our pump, we used to get 10 to 15 notes of Rs 2,000 per day, which has now gone up to about 70 to 80.”
On the rise in sale, he added, “Sales have slightly increased as many try to spend the available Rs 2,000 notes with them by refilling full tanks of their vehicles. On an average, each pump sells 5,000-6,000 litres of fuel (petrol and diesel) per day, which has roughly gone up by 10-15% in the past few days.”
To tackle the issue of returning change to the customers, he said, “The JDPA on Monday issued an advisory to all pumps to put up display boards stating that Rs 2,000 notes will be accepted only if fuel is bought for the entire amount. But the advisory depens upon the petrol pumps’s discretion to act upon.”