Demonetisation: Lost Rs 3,000 crore, Telangana govt tells Central team

Hyderabad: The two-member Central team that arrived here on Wednesday to assess the impact of demonetisation was flooded with complaints on Day-1 of their visit over non-availability of cash and lower denomination notes at banks and ATMs. The team will tour the districts for two days and examine the currency availability in banks, ATMs and post offices. Chief secretary Rajiv Sharma and senior officials met the team at the Secretariat and submitted a detailed report on the problems faced by people during the last two weeks and the huge financial losses suffered by the state government on account of demonetisation. Officials from the Reserve Bank of India and the State Level Bankers Committee were also present.

The government sought allowing old currency notes for a few more months to pay government bills and supply of the new Rs 500 notes immediately. Mr Sharma said, “Though Rs 2,000 currency notes are being supplied, they are serving no purpose due to non-availability of lower denomination notes. The Centre should take steps to supply lower denomination notes on a war footing because all business transactions have came to a halt. The new Rs 500 notes are yet to reach the state.”

RBI and banking officials informed the officials that they were taking measures to overcome these problems and the situation would improve in a day or two. Later, Mr Sharma submitted a list of the losses suffered by various government departments on account of demonetisation. He told them that the state was expected to suffer losses of Rs 3,000 crore this month with revenue collections from stamps and registration, Excise, commercial taxes and transport departments falling drastically with meagre transactions on account of the currency crisis. The Chief Secretary asked the Centre to compensate the state accordingly.