Refusal of “spoiled” coins and “crumpled” banknotes : A hard-skinned practice

The press release from the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the ban on the refusal of worn coins and crumpled banknotes looks like water off the back of a duck in the eyes of good ladies, merchants and merchants. They don't care. They keep refusing these coins and bills as if nothing had happened. The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) just made another call to order.

It reaffirms that under the texts in force, these banknotes and coins must be “compulsorily accepted as means of payment in transactions between economic agents, in particular by sellers of goods and services and creditors.. Any refusal to accept “a banknote or coin that is legal tender and has legal tender in a WAEMU member state constitutes an offense punishable by the texts in force”. otherwise, the Central Bank reminds the public that mutilated or torn banknotes as well as smooth or altered coins can be exchanged at its counters.

Unfortunately, this practice of refusing banknotes and coins is rooted in the habit of the Beninese population..  In Akpakpa the last time, a fight almost broke out because of this practice as old as the moon. An atassi saleswoman had just refused a piece of 200 CFA francs handed to him by a young man. « Hey!! Change the money for me, it's spoiled » advanced the saleswoman. " Spoiled? Asked the young man before adding you made the money once? It's the only piece I have left in my pocket. : “If you want come and rip me open to get your rice back ohhh. Besides, they have forbidden to refuse the money now ”. And it was the drop of water that broke the camel's back. "Go and buy from the person who said that" retorted the good lady who girded her loincloth and was about to throw herself on her interlocutor. Had it not been for the prompt reaction of the taxi-motorcycle drivers commonly known as zémidjan, the scene was going to turn to drama. These kinds of scene are legion in the streets of Cotonou and in many other localities of the country. If it is not a zémidjan who refuses to accept a piece that he considers spoiled, it is a buyer who finds that the part which was given to him as a remainder is damaged.

Many are those who, avoiding these bickering, find it difficult to exchange in these circumstances. You can have cash on hand and sleep fast. You can have cash on hand and go to work late. Just because the dealer or the Taxi-moto driver thinks your ticket is crumpled or taped. Others categorically refuse parts of 250 f CFA on the pretext that it is no longer used. It is also difficult to use the parts of 5, 10 or 25f CFA nowadays. Whether new or not, several dealers and traders point out as opinions that these pieces would be dedicated to fetishes. Wacky and unfounded arguments, explains the press release from the Ministry of Economy and Finance. "I would like to reassure people that no coin is dedicated to a deity and that so-called "smooth" coins or coins that have lost their luster as well as banknotes described as "crumpled" are still legal tender and have legal tender status. throughout the national territory and in all the countries of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) » rectified, a few weeks ago Hermann Orou Takou, Chief of Staff to the Minister of Economy and Finance, mail signatory. The statement especially specified that the "refusal to receive the currency having equal currency in a member state of the WAMU is punished by the texts in force". “The people who hold these mutilated or smooth coins as well as crumpled banknotes, have the possibility of changing them free of charge at BCEAO counters”. In the field, the eve of the application of this decision seems not to be for tomorrow. In any case, the resellers are not ready to assimilate the press release from the Ministry of Economy and Finance or that of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO)  They keep on doing what they want. We will have to pass the sanction to discipline each other.

Arnaud ACAKPO (Coll)