Mumbai: Banking operations in the city were apparently back to normal on the last day for depositing demonetised 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, with the day being marked by the absence of long queues that had become ubiquitous over the past several weeks. The Central government had discontinued the high-value currency notes on November 8.
Mangesh Bhalerao, general secretary, Allahabad Bank Employees Union, said, “No crowds were seen at banks because things have eased in cities like Mumbai, but the problem still persists in semi-urban and rural areas. This is because those who wanted to exchange or deposit old currency have already done so.”
Anil Prabhu, general secretary, Punjab National Bank Employees Union concurred with Mr. Bhalerao in that normalcy has been restored in Mumbai, adding, “The lull is because of what can be called as the internal rationing of funds by banks. Since cash inflow from RBI is so less, we call customers in rural areas in batches and ask them to take less cash to adjust with the situation.”
“The salaried and working class customers tend to throng banks for withdrawals only after the first day of the month, when their salaries are credited. December 30 being the month-end, these customers are not left with much in their accounts to withdraw. Crowds will start coming in after January 1,” N. Shankar of the All India Union Bank Employees Union says.
“There is no cash in the banks and therefore, no crowds. Also, with no change in withdrawal limits, there is not much cash that people can take,” adds Vishwas Utagi, vice-president, All India Bank Employees Union.
Having reached the deadline set by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restore currency operations, banks fear customers may demand full cash withdrawal from January, which they are not in a position to provide. “We still don’t have the cash. So, if the government relaxes the withdrawal limit to, say, Rs 1 lakh or above without increasing cash flow to banks, we will be stuck. Those customers who deal in cash would want to take the cash,” Mr. Shankar says.
As the pressure from customers eases, banks have been able to take stock of the situation and find ways to handle the situation in the immediate future, including internal analyses of the impact of demonetisation on their working. The shortage of Rs. 100 and Rs. 500 notes is also adding to bankers’ woes. “No one wants the Rs. 2,000 notes. It’s high time the government brings out low denomination currency,” says Mr. Prabhu.
Meanwhile, bank employees have postponed their proposed dharna at Azad Maidan, and will be holding it next to the RBI headquarters on January 3.
The writer is a freelance journalist
