Pune’s retail markets are facing a shortage of usable ₹10, ₹20 and ₹50 notes, leaving traders and citizens dependent on torn, dirty or adhesive-repaired currency for everyday transactions, according to a report by Civic Mirror – Pune. The shortage is being reported across local markets in Pune and parts of Maharashtra, where cash remains important despite the rapid growth of UPI payments and digital scanners.
The Vyapari Vikas Mandal, headquartered in Pune, has submitted a formal representation to the Reserve Bank of India seeking an urgent supply of new low-denomination notes. The traders’ body has also asked that damaged notes be removed from circulation, as the growing presence of unusable currency is leading to disputes between buyers, shopkeepers and other participants in daily transactions.
According to the representation cited in the report, local bank branches have not been able to provide traders with clean and serviceable small-value notes. The organisation has also raised concerns that some citizens visiting banks to exchange old and worn notes are being turned away at certain locations.
The shortage is particularly visible in busy markets, grocery shops, bus stops, vegetable markets and ticket counters, where customers frequently need small notes for low-value purchases and change. When new notes do not enter circulation in sufficient numbers, the notes already in use continue to pass through thousands of transactions. The report says this has left many of them oily, worn and torn.
For shopkeepers, the problem is not limited to the condition of the currency. A customer who receives a damaged note may struggle to use it in the next transaction, creating arguments over whether the note should be accepted. Traders and members of the public may consequently try to avoid retaining such notes, even when they have been received as legitimate change.
The issue also highlights the continued role of cash in Pune’s street-level economy. Digital payments have expanded rapidly, but the report says cash remains the backbone of transactions across roadside businesses, neighbourhood shops, markets and other low-value points of sale. Small denominations are especially important in these settings because purchases are often settled through exact change or a combination of notes and coins.
The traders’ representation places responsibility for addressing the shortage with the banking and currency-distribution system. It calls for new low-denomination notes to be supplied promptly and for damaged currency to be withdrawn from circulation. The report does not provide figures for the quantity of notes available in Pune, the volume of damaged notes collected by banks or the RBI’s response to the representation.
The next step reported by the traders is follow-up with the Reserve Bank of India on the supply of new ₹10, ₹20 and ₹50 notes and the replacement of currency that is no longer fit for everyday use.
