Mumbai turns to barter, credit to deal with crunch

“There is a chaiwala who comes to our office every evening. While he is always particular about the customers paying him the correct amount of Rs 10, he has been serving us tea on credit since Friday. All of us are running out of cash and hope to pay him back this week,” said Rachit Gaikwad, who works in a startup at Grant Road.

Watch What Else Is making News

Rahul Sinha, who lives in Andheri, got a haircut and shave on credit from the salon, as he too was in a cash crunch due to demonetisation. “I realised that they did not have a card facility only after I reached the salon. But the owner told me to avail the service and pay him whenever I get cash,” said Sinha.

A tiffin service that provides meal ‘dabas’ for those residing in the suburbs, has been accepting the now banned notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination but doesn’t have change to return to its customers. The company is simply offering to adjust the remainder with bills that will accrue in the coming week. “I mostly serve young professionals or students. I understand that they would not have the time to exchange the cash, especially when the announcement was made during the time of the month that I collect cash from them. I will accept the notes, and if necessary make adjustments with the next month’s payments,” says the proprietor of the tiffin service.

While recharging the phone is the most popular among those engaging in a barter exchange, offering grocery essentials was another wa”. “I was travelling from Andheri to Bandra, where my aunt lives. While I thought I could pay the auto by borrowing cash from my aunt, she did not have cash herself. We spoke to the auto driver and he agreed to accept an unopened bag of basmati rice of 1 kg,” said Varsha Nair, who is studying in Mumbai.