Drivers and transporters have been fuming over the past week because neither traffic police nor the transport department has been accepting Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. “I drove my vehicle to Agra on Sunday and I had to pay Rs 180 as road tax at Kaushambi. But the transport department refused to accept the old notes. I exhausted all my change,” said Dinesh Kumar, a driver from central Delhi who has an All India Taxi Permit. WATCH VIDEO: Arvind Kejriwal Attacks Janardhan Reddy Over His Daughter's Big Fat Wedding Like Ajay, many other drivers faced problems at an RTO in south Delhi when they went to get fitness certificate issued for their vehicles. BJP-backed trade unions like the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh threatened to go on strike against the Kejriwal government if the transport department did not accept old notes. Transporters and drivers expressed relief as the payment for petrol and CNG could be made in old currency after the Centre extended the relaxation on essential services to Monday. WATCH VIDEO: Demonetisation: Arvind Kejriwal, Kapil Sibal, Akhilesh Yadav Slam Modi Govt “We are being able to refuel without trouble. But police challans are causing a lot of trouble. We have to go to court and get our RCs and papers released against a fine because police are not accepting old notes. We lose an entire business day over a challan for a minor offence,” said Sanjeev Singh, an autorickshaw driver in Tilak Nagar. Traffic police issue spot challans if a violator is ready to pay the fine then and there. If he wants to explain his case before a court, traffic police agree to issue a court challan. However, since the two currency denominations were declared illegal tender last week and traffic police were faced with the unprecedented situation of returning change to violators who offered old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, police did away almost completely with the provision of spot challans. WATCH VIDEO: PM Modi Reveals How He Planned Demonetisation Gradually In 10 Months A senior traffic police officer said, “Since Tuesday, we have been issuing court challans in 90 per cent of the cases because we have no change to give.”
