Vijayawada: Despite clarifications from the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) and the Government of India, rumours on ban of Rs 10 coins are doing rounds across the country. Rumours which earlier spread across Karnataka, Maharashtra and north eastern parts of the country have now spread across Andhra Pradesh. The rumour is spreading in Whatsapp and other social media sites.

“People are getting worried as no one is accepting these coins. Autorickshaws, fruit vendors, kirana shops and no other marginal business units are accepting these coins. A shopkeeper at Kaleswararao Market refused to take Rs 10 coins and asked me to give him notes. He said that my coin is fake as it does not contain rupee symbol on it,” said Lakshmi Soundarya, a homemaker from Vijayawada.

“I have a habit of saving coins in my daughter’s kiddy bank. We have around 250 coins in it. No one is accepting the coins without Rupee symbol saying it was a fake coin and the RBI had banned it. Some shopkeepers are showing an image differentiating fake and original coins,”said K. Brahmaiah, a resident of Guntur. Many citizens are rushing to banks to exchange these coins. “Many acc-ount holders have deposited Rs 10 coins for the last 10 days in their bank accounts. Some consumers said that these coins were banned and fake. “We have tried to convince them but no one is accepting these coins,”said Central Bank of India senior manager M. Mallikarjuna Rao.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India, in a press release on November 20, 2016, said that Rs 10 coin was in circulation and stringent action will be taken on those who refused to accept it. It also said that new and old coins have some differences but all coins are in circulation.