Five ways Indians are dodging ‘black money’ crackdown

New Delhi / AFP

From deploying ‘cash coolies’ to buying Rolex watches, Indians have found unique ways to dodge the government’s surprise move to withdraw high value bills in a bid to tackle widespread corruption and tax evasion.

Cash Coolies
There have been multiple reports of factory owners and businessmen asking staff — or even hiring casual labourers — to stand in bank queues and exchange cash for them before the December 30 deadline.
The initial over-the-counter currency exchange limit was 4,000 rupees but was later reduced to 2,000 rupees after the government said “unscrupulous elements” were paying the poor to queue to exchange their money.

Rolex buying spree
Several luxury retailers stocking brands like Rolex and Dior sent emails to clients stating their stores would be open until midnight that day, the Economic Times reported.
The daily said a leading global fashion brand store in Delhi remained open all night immediately after the move was announced, selling merchandise worth more than $150,000 in less than three hours.
Get gold
Some affluent buyers have reportedly been paying almost twice the market value for gold in old notes.
Jewellers who had shut up shop for the day on November 8 reopened their stores within hours and were selling gold all night, local media
reported.

‘Rent’ an account
Officials say they are keeping an eye on all cash deposits made into new “Jan Dhan” accounts which were opened by the government as a part of its financial inclusion scheme for the poor and farmers and which were designed for deposits such as welfare payments. Following the withdrawal announcement, many of these accounts have seen deposits of thousands of rupees in a single day.
Local media have reported that corrupt individuals are “renting” these accounts to deposit their money in, only to withdraw it later.

Travel trick
In a sign of how desperate some Indians were to convert cash, a massive spike was seen in the number of railway ticket bookings after authorities said old bills could be used until midnight on November 11 to make reservations. Most of these were advance bookings made using old notes.
Bookings can be cancelled at a later date with refunds paid out in new notes with only a small fee deducted.