Kolkata Bakeries in West Bengal have alleged that banks in the state were refusing to accept coins on Dec 24, crippling the employment-intensive sector’s financials.

Bakery businesses’ working capitals are getting locked and gradually turning unviable due to the non-acceptance of coins by banks for the past few months, claimed Idris Ali, secretary of the joint action committee of bakeries in West Bengal.

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“The banks are not accepting coins when the bakeries are going to deposit them. We have been repeatedly complaining to authorities, including the Reserve Bank of India,” Ali told PTI.

For small bakeries, almost 50 per cent of their sales realisation happens through coins, he said.

With the small and medium enterprises already burdened with GST, which has pushed several bakery products to the 18 per cent tax bracket from five per cent, the coin issue is like a double whammy for the sector, Ali said.

According to sources in the banking industry, lenders in the state do not have enough chests to manage such large quantity of coins.

“If the situation does not ease, large-scale closure of small bakeries is imminent,” Ali added.