Aarey stalls milk 25p for all its worth

With demonetisation of 25p coins, a half-litre Aarey milk pack, which costs Rs 13.75, will u00a0now be Rs14. But in absence of formal word from govt, stall owners pocket the gains

Now that the RBI has announced the demise of the 25 paise coin, you are going to have to pay more for your milk.



Thanks to the ban on the circulation of the lowly coin that came in effect from June 30, the half-litre Aarey milk packet, which cost Rs 13.75, will now be Rs 14.

Bad for you, but good for the state's financial health, you'd think. But that is not really the case.

Since the city consumes close to 40,000 such packs daily, Aarey's milk stall owners spread across the city should, ideally, collectively rake in Rs 10,000 extra every day for the state. But a couple of hiccups have stalled the flow of that money into the state's coffers.

For one, consumers haggle over the price since the MRP printed on the packs still reads Rs 13.75, forcing retailers to sell to them at the old price.

Prasad Narvekar, an Aarey milk distributor, clarified that since the 25 paise have ceased to be legal tender, "We collect Rs 14 from the customer. If people object, we collect Rs 13.50 paise and adjust the balance of 25 paise in the next day's billing by charging Rs 14."



Secondly, even if the customers readily pay up, the retailers do not pass on the profits to the state, as they haven't received a notification on the price rise from the government yet. Narvekar said that, as of now, distributors or retailers haven't received any government notification of the revised price.

In the absence of any word from the government, said Mantralaya officials from the dairy department, the Rs 10,000, which should have come in from the sale of 40,000 half-litre packs every day, is not going to the state exchequer; it is being pocketed by Aarey stall owners.

According to the officials, this change was immediately brought to the notice of the concerned officials in the dairy department.

However, irrespective of a high-level meeting conducted to revise the price of the half-litre pack, the notification was not passed until the day before, that is July 11.

Anil Diggikar, secretary, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries, said, "I have no clue about the revised prices. You can check with the Dairy Commissioner."

R D Shinde, dairy commissioner, did confirm that his office received the revised rate notification last Monday and that it would be implemented immediately. As such, things may change soon.

The RBI had come out with a circular on June 30 stating that the government had decided to stop the circulation of the humble chavanni.

"There shall no longer be a legal tender for payment as well as on account. People can exchange the coins in the banks. However, we won't accept them if submitted after June 29," RBI regional director P Vijaya Bhaskar was quoted by media.u00a0