Transport services hit brick wall

Chaos reigned on Wednesday at the city’s toll plazas, Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) bus depots and state transport buses, railway and Metro stations, and petrol pumps as people were turned away for not having change for Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.

The city’s railways, which transports over 79 lakh commuters on both lines everyday, saw a huge number of disgruntled commuters at the 108 suburban railway stations in the city. Many commuters had even come to the railway counters with the intention of breaking a Rs 500 note. A ticket clerk at Wadala Road station said, “People have been coming to buy a Rs 30 ticket with a Rs 500 note, and so we have told customers to tender exact change. But as soon as we tell them that, they lose their temper and begin to get abusive.”

Meanwhile, BEST conductors refused to give change for Rs 500 notes either, while the depots only accepted Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes of those passengers who were renewing their passes. BEST chief public relations officer Hanumant Gophane said, “We have instructed our conductors to not accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes for tickets, but the same denominations were accepted from passengers who wanted to renew their old passes.”

At the Sea Link toll and Vashi toll plaza, in what was a desperate move, the authorities even let motorists pass without paying toll since there was no change available.

Motorists at petrol pumps, though, faced a dilemma since almost 223 petrol pumps asked customers to fill in petrol/diesel/CNG worth Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 at least. Ravi Shinde from the Petrol Dealer’s Association said, “We sold two days’ worth of fuel by Wednesday morning and have been telling people that we do not have Rs 100 or Rs 300 to give them as change.”

There was chaos at Metro stations as well — Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 notes were not accepted at Ghatkopar station. In fact, CM Devendra Fadnavis had to intervene and ask Metro authorities to accept the banned currency.

The only good news came at the end of the day, when the state government said that there would be no charges at any toll point until November 11. The CM tweeted, “Government Of Maharashtra decides that all State roads will be toll tax free till 11th November midnight.”