All 14 types of Rs 10 coin are legal tender: RBI

On Wednesday, RBI again confirmed the legal status of all 14 types of Rs 10 coin issued by it. The move came after RBI received multiple reports about these coins being rejected as being fake during transactions.

RBI's notice for Rs 10 coin

Reserve Bank of India issued the following notice:

So far, the Reserve Bank of Indian has issued Rs 10 coins in 14 designs and the public has been informed of their distinctive features. All these coins are legal tender and can be accepted for transactions. The coins minted by the government mints have distinctive features to reflect various themes of economic, social and cultural values and are put into circulation from time to time.

It also added, It has come to the notice of the Reserve Bank of India that in certain places there is reluctance on part of traders and members of the public to accept Rs 10 coins due to suspicion about their genuineness.

Other cases of unauthorized demonetization

Not only the Rs 10 coin faced rejection in circulation but also the newly minted Rs 1 coin is facing unauthorized demonetization in some parts of the country as well. For rupee ten coin, RBI previously issued notice for it being the valid currency and warned people about facing legal action for rejecting such coins.

What started it?

The rumours of fake Rs 10 coin in circulation started the rejection of this coin. While some parts of the country accept the coin other do not. The public is of the view that big shop owners and banks are responsible for the rejection of rupee ten coins.

Mohammad Khalid Akram Ansari, a BTC student in Sitapur, UP said, "Nowadays, everyone behaves like an authority as if they are the government themselves. The wholesalers of the area do not accept the Rs 10 coin because it is too much work to count them and since they cannot reject it, for this reason, they weave stories for it being fake or anything alike to reject the coins."

He further added, "The same is true for the banks. If I want to deposit hundred Rs 10 coins valuing ten thousand, the banks reject it by saying bluntly that they do not accept such large number of coins. Because of banks' actions, the local shop owners start to reject the coin by giving support to the false claims of the wholesalers for the coin being fake. And the cycle goes on and on."

Why the rejection of coins surfaces again and again?

Upon interacting with the locals in Uttar Pradesh, it came to light that the main cause of the rejection of coins is it's over circulation. People have said that the Chillar (change) is so much in quantity that the ones who have to count it the most like the grocery shop owners, wholesalers etc. keep on finding excuses to reject it.

Regions which accept it

While states like Uttar Pradesh have such immense number of coins in the circulation that every month or two, there surfaces a rumour which tends to cut them off the circulation, other states face a shortage of the coins. However, in recent times, the shortage in other areas has improved.

A local from Goa said, "There was an immense shortage of the coins a few months back. We were facing a lot of trouble because of the unavailability of coins for transactions. But for these four months, rupee ten coin is easily available and all types of these coins are accepted here."

The public is confused over the legality of rupee ten coins

Some parts accept the coin, some parts reject the coin. Some shop owners take it while some reject it. Sometimes the banks accept the coin, sometimes they do not deposit it. All of this has left the public in a continuous state of confusion over the rupee ten coin.

A local shop owner in Sitapur said, "I had started to take the coins from the public but soon after that all I received were the ten rupee coins only while no one wanted to receive the coin from my end. Some said it was fake or some said no one else accepts it."

He further added, "The banks accept the coin but they also hesitate to take-in large numbers of it."

How effective the RBI's announcement will prove to be?

This is not the first time that RBI directed people to accept the ten rupee coins in the country. But the central bank's announcement has surely cleared off the air from the rumours of it being fake. But as long as there is a concentration of 'change' in a region, it will invite problems like this.

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