The Reserve Bank of India is set to lift completely from March 13 the cash withdrawal limits imposed in the wake of the November 8 demonetisation of high-value currency notes. The RBI said the remonetisation process was well under way.
From February 20, cash withdrawal limits for savings account holders will increase to ₹50,000 a week from the existing ₹24,000.
This would mean savings account holders can withdraw ₹50,000 from automated teller machines in one go, if their banks allow it. Banks typically set daily limits for their customers for withdrawal from ATMs.
The RBI had earlier lifted cash withdrawal limits for current and cash credit accounts. Limits on ATM withdrawals were also changed to reflect the limits on withdrawals from bank counters at the time.
“In line with the pace of remonetisation, it has been decided to remove these limits in two stages,” RBI Deputy Governor R. Gandhi said in the post-policy interaction with the media. “Notes in circulation, as on January 27, was ₹9.92 lakh crore, comprising all denominations.”
Cash withdrawals had been capped at ₹2,000 from ATMs and ₹10,000 from banks as part of the initial step to withdraw high-value banknotes. The demonetisation had made more than 86% of the currency notes in circulation invalid.
“Notes in circulation, as on 27 January, 2017, was ₹9.92 lakh crore, comprising all the denominations,” Mr. Gandhi said.
On the number of new ₹500 and ₹2,000 notes in circulation, RBI Governor Urjit Patel said: “We usually don’t give that information out.”
RBI officials said it would take time to arrive at a figure of the amount of withdrawn currency notes that were deposited and hinted that the final figures would likely be available only after the deposit window for non-resident Indians was closed in June. “The work on the data compilation is going on,” Deputy Governor S.S. Mundra said. “There are 4,000 currency chests in the country and the RBI has chests in 19 places. The reconciliation process is currently going on. We expect to finish the process in some time. There could be some currencies in Nepal and Bhutan which we need to take into account. Also, the window [for NRIs to deposit] is open till June 30. After taking all this into account, we will definitely disclose the numbers.”
