Petrol was pumped out of a two-wheeler after an attendant refused to accept Rs 2000 notes when offered by the customer in the Jalaun district of Uttar Pradesh.
A video shot by the customer at the HP petrol station shows the attendant removing the petrol using a funnel.
Cash purchase of fuel at petrol pumps using Rs 2000 notes has spiked to almost 90 percent of daily sales as buyers rushed to tender the withdrawn currency notes.
Many petrol pump dealers said cash sales before the surprise announcement were only 10 percent, but now customers were using the withdrawn note to make small purchases of Rs 100/200, expecting change in return.
“Majority of the customers are trying to use Rs 2000 notes even for small purchases of Rs 100-200 and expect change from the petrol pumps and hence the petro outlets are extremely short of change across the country,” All India Petroleum Dealers Association president Ajay Bansal said, in a statement.
They have now asked the Reserve Bank of India to instruct banks to provide enough small denomination notes to help serve customers smoothly.
Describing the move as a ‘clean note policy’ the RBI clarified the notes will continue to be legal tender till September 30. A person can exchange up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time without filling out any form or requisition slip.
Further, no identity proof is required to be submitted by the tenderer at the time of exchange.
2016 demonetization fear looms large
There is a sense of panic and anxiety among citizens and small service providers ever since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the withdrawal of Rs 2000 notes from circulation on May 19.
On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the overnight demonetisation of all â‚ą500 and â‚ą1,000 banknotes leading to nationwide chaos.
The sudden unprecedented announcement caused many small and mid-scale businesses to shut down while citizens scurried around and waited in long queues to get their notes exchanged. According to The Indian Express, around 115 people reportedly died just waiting in queues.
Statutory exercise: RBI to Delhi HC
On Tuesday, RBI told the Delhi High Court that the withdrawal of Rs 2000 notes is not demonetisation but a statutory exercise, and the decision to enable their exchange was taken for operational convenience.
The court was hearing a plea by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay that the notifications by the RBI and SBI enabling the exchange of Rs 2000 banknotes without proof were arbitrary and against the laws enacted to curb corruption.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said it will an pass appropriate order on the public interest litigation by the lawyer.
“We will look into it. We will pass an appropriate order,” said the court.
