“Change” Management

The Father of  the Nation had famously said “Be the change you want to see .. “ but our local Autowalas might have altered it to “Have the change if you want me”. Management gurus have written “The only thing permanent is change’ but it now seems that the only thing permanent is the lack of change or ‘chillar’. Small change is a much sought aspect of life across canvas of lifelines like taxis, autos, buses, shops, stores and even banks !

In Mumbai (and so also in all cities) your travelling and shopping depends not just on your purchasing power but your change management skills ! Offering a 100 note when your fare auto fare is only 26 is not wise & a big no-no because most of the autos have a standard line “Abhi abhi toh gadi nikali hai, chutta do” ! The friendly general store-wala looks apologetic if you fish out a big one but skillfully solves the problem by returning some cough lozenges or candies in exchange. The fact is they want to avoid the trouble of counting small change but ask them and they blame the banks for not providing the requisite coins and change. For soiled notes, they  point out ‘Bank aisa hi note deta hai’ !

So what are the factors contributing to the shortage of small change in India? The public’s need for coins has been growing because of new toll roads, metro stations and malls, which require small non-round figure payments. According to reports while the RBI is meeting this new demand by linking these centers with local banks and has called on local banks to strengthen their distribution systems and procedures to cater better to the needs of citizens but overall supply also doesn’t seem to be keeping pace with the demand. Moreover, despite the huge rise of digital payments, the demand for notes and coins also continues to rise. To top it all, most of the ATMs dispense only 500 Rs. Notes. However, recently to her utter shock, my wife got 2000 all in 100 notes – a real bonanza!    

The concerned authorities have been working (hard not hardly) on digitalizing payment systems and where there’s a will to pay, there’s ‘G Pay’ and other modes ! For me and for most of us, G Pay has become a life-change saver, for there’s hardly anyone who doesn’t boast of this versatile system be it autowalas or bhajiwalas. The catch is to be ready with pin/code and of course some balance in the linked bank account. Yet, ‘yeh dil maange mor’. So whenever you step out some small change in the wallet will makes life easier !