Hyderabad: Despite the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) repeated clarification on Rs 10 coin that it is the legal tender, the Rs 10 coins are still being rejected by vendors across the city.
In 2016 and again in 2018, the Reserve Bank of India had clarified that all Rs 10 coins in circulation were legal tender, but still most of the small businesses, vendors and autorickshaw drivers are refusing to accept, people said.
Last year, the RBI sent out a notification and said, “The Reserve Bank has in the past also issued a press release requesting members of the public to continue to accept coins of `10 denomination as legal tender in all their transactions without any hesitation.”
The rumours that the coins are fake spread across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and state and north-eastern parts of India through Whatsapp and other social media groups.
However, despite the RBI’s repeated clarifications and its notification to banks to accept coins for transactions and exchange them at all their branches, people refuse to accept the coin.
When contacted the RBI official, he said, “We have repeatedly issued circulars saying they are valid and are legal tenders. The information is clearly stated on our website. We even had an awareness campaign where we sent out phone messages to millions of people to educate them about frauds, fictitious offers and rumours. What else can we do beyond that?” he asked.