Public fumes as post offices wring hands

Officials at the Wadala (west) post office said that they hadn’t received even a single new note from the RBI. (Photo: Shripad Naik)

While the government has announced that people can exchange their old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes at post offices, the city post offices have not been able to meet the demand. Many were turned away by post offices on Thursday after being told they had not received new currency notes.

Kumkum Garodia, a housewife and resident of Wadala, first visited Wadala post office, only to be told that she would have to head to a bank.

“I went to them with my old Rs 500 note but they said they were not dispensing any money. When I asked them they said they hadn’t received any new note,” she said.

The same was the case with Varalakshmi Shetty, a housewife who was also turned away from the said post office. “I don’t know whether they received the money or not. But they refused to let me exchange my old currency,” she said.

Sachin Patil, an employee of a private firm, said he was turned away at Borivali (west) post office when he went to exchange four Rs 1,000 notes.

“I visited the post office at 11 am, only to be told that I should return after 1 pm. Since there was a long queue at the bank, I decided to try the post office again but they said they were yet to receive the new notes and may not even receive any today.”

Officials at the Wadala (west) post office said that they hadn’t received even a single new note. “It’s not in our hands, we are not denying them the money. To give them new notes, we should have at least received it,” said an officer who did not want to be named.

Despite repeated efforts, the director and assistant director general post office (Mumbai) were unavailable for comment.

“We were told it would be here by afternoon but it is 12 pm already and there is no communication. We will close the post office at 2 pm so we don’t think we will receive the money today,” he said.