Jewellers worst affected as gold sales plummet

A number of residents rushed to jewellery stores on Wednesday but it did not have an impact on sales as shops accepted only cheques, cards and currency notes of

A number of residents rushed to jewellery stores on Wednesday but it did not have an impact on sales as shops accepted only cheques, cards and currency notes of denominations below Rs500, jewellery store owners said.

Jewellers kept a copy of a customer’s PAN card for transactions below ₹2 lakh and photo identity proofs for purchases above ₹2 lakh. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

Customers who went to purchase jewellery in an attempt to exhaust the demonetised Rs1,000 and Rs500 notes were turned away as stores stuck by the orders issued by the government on Tuesday.

“There was a huge inflow of customers since morning to buy gold jewellery, coins and biscuits. But, most of them were carrying bundles of R 500 and R 1000, which we did not accept. We cannot take the cash as the billing will be done on the current date and accepting the currency will leave us in trouble,” SK Malik of BC Sen Jewellers in Gold Souk said.

Rakesh Goyal of Giriraj Jewellers in Sadar Bazar said the sales were abnormally low as majority of the customers were carrying currency notes that were not legal anymore. “We opened the showroom just to cater to the orders we had booked prior to the ban as such customers had paid in advance. The decision to ban currency notes was taken in haste without taking into account the issues that would be faced by customers and jewellers,” he said.

Jewellers kept a copy of a customer’s PAN card for transactions below R 2 lakh and photo identity proofs for purchases above R 2 lakh.

Tired of turning away customers who wanted to pay in ‘illegal currency’, some shopkeepers in Gold Souk Mall pulled their shutters down partially.

“Around 99% customers who came to us since morning wanted to do cash payments. We had to pull our shutters down partially to regulate the flow of customers and give a hint that we are against the circulation of R 1,000 and R 500 notes,” Ajay Verma, assistant manager of Avenue Montaigne in Gold Souk Mall, said.

The jewellers said the demand for coins and biscuits were higher than jewellery sets as they have less resale value.

Some residents, however, said certain jewellers were accepting demonetised currency. According to them, the store owners would make back dated bills to exchange the notes.