When credit, not cash, became king

By Ratan Chowdhuri

Like most people, Ratan Chowdhuri was taken aback when demonetisation was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016. But the 25-yearold owner of the provision store in Mumbai's suburb of Mira Road quickly recovered and started thinking on his feet to ensure the cash crunch did not hit his business.

"We started accepting old notes for a few more days till the new stock of notes arrived. Bank exchange processes were on, and traders were al l ag reeing to transact in old notes till the new series of notes hit the market. We also offered our customers an option to buy provisions and repay later when they got new currency notes," he recounts, adding that it was important for him to trust his customers.

Soon after the announcement of demonetisation, he went into a huddle with his brother and business partner. "The initial estimate was that the consequences were going to be severe, but as days progressed, to our surprise, we discovered things were not too bad," the businessman from Rajasthan says, adding that to tide over the crisis, he had also started accepting payments through Paytm, though not many people used the e-wallet to pay at the store.

"We are not escapists. We are businessmen who are supposed to see frequent ups and downs and overcome hurdles," says Chowdhuri, who is now reconciled to pay taxes in full.