Hyderabad: The recent demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has actually eased traffic congestion in the city. According to the latest numbers, less than 50,000-odd autorickshaws of the total two lakh plying in and around Greater Hyderabad have been running over the past few days due to lack of circulation of lower denomination currency.
“Earlier, it used to take me an hour and 10 minutes to reach my workplace at Narayanaguda from my home at ECIL. For the past one week, that time has reduced by 10 minutes to 15 minutes,” said Indian Federation of Road Safe-ty Chief Functionary Mr Vinod Kumar Kanumala.
“The auto drivers do not have enough notes of lower denominations to return change to customers who are mostly using Rs 500 notes. So a majority of our drivers have been sitting at home. The government must come to their rescue,”said Telangana Auto Unions JAC leader A. Sathi Reddy said.
Even traffic cops have noticed a reduction in traffic. "People want to save fuel and whatever money they have in cash. There used to be severe jams around the shopping malls along RP road during the peak hours, every day. Since the
demonetisation that congestion has reduced," said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Mr Mutyam Reddy.
Though card swiping facility is available at supermarkets, customer footfall has
dropped significantly at every shop and commercial establishment. "Even those who regularly used to prefer payment through cards have become cautious now. They want to wait and watch," said A. Anurag, cashier at an electronics store.
