James, a micro unit owner in the city, exchanged the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes he had with him for Rs. 4,000 at the bank on Thursday. He went for exchanging some more notes on Friday but was told that he would not be able to do so for another 14 days.
Many more who went to the bank branches on Friday returned, unable to exchange the demonetised Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes as they had already done so once.
A. Kanagaraj, the District Lead Bank Manager, clarified that customers will be able to exchange the old currencies of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 denominations for Rs. 4,000 only once for the next few days. The move is to control exchange of the currencies multiple times by the same customer. Customers can, however, deposit the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes that they have and withdraw Rs. 10,000 a day, with a cap of Rs. 20,000 for a week. The banks will operate on Saturday and Sunday. On Friday too the branches saw a large number of people visiting the branches for exchange, deposit, or withdrawal of cash.
However, for many, daily activities were hit as many of the nearly 2,000 ATMs in the district, be it in the city or in the rural areas, did not function. A banker said that banks that had cash had filled the ATMs and those that were already in need of more Rs. 100 notes did not. The banks have already written to the RBI and they are expecting cash supply soon.
At the post offices in the western region, there was adequate cash availability and the post offices will function on Saturday and Sunday, the officials said. In rural areas, where there were banks nearby, the post offices were able to get cash and disburse the money to the customers. The rush was more on Friday compared to Thursday. On Thursday, the post offices in the region got a deposit of Rs. 52.82 crore and exchanged cash for Rs. 5 crore. On Friday, it was Rs. 60.03 crore deposits and Rs. 7.35 crore of exchange cash.
The Punjab National Bank has opened a counter at the Collectorate for the benefit of government officials who want to exchange or deposit cash. Such counters will be opened in five locations in the city.
The industries here made a representation to the Union Government, seeking removal of the withdrawal limits. In a joint memorandum, the associations said Saturday was the day for payment of weekly wages and the industries are unable to find a way to have the required cash for payment to the workers.
The condition for withdrawal of cash should be relaxed and the bankers should be instructed to give the required cash on production of letter from the individual industrial units. Workers who do not have a bank account will be hit and they are dependent on their weekly wages for their livelihood, the associations pointed out.
