Lok Sabha Question No. 4977 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-12-16
Subject: Bank Services after Demonetisation
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: JITENDRA CHAUDHURY, RAMDAS CHANDRABHANJI TADAS, C. MAHENDRAN, CHANDRAKANT BHAURAO KHAIRE, RAMACHANDRAN MULLAPPALLY, SANWAR LAL JAT, CHINTAMAN NAVSHA WANAGA, RODMAL NAGAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4977

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 16 th  December, 2016/ Agrahayana 25, 1938 (SAKA)

## Bank Services after Demonetisation QUESTION

## 4977.  SHRI JITENDRA CHAUHURY: SHRI RAMDAS C TADAS: SHRI C. MAHENDRAN: SHRI CHANDRAKANT KHAIRE: SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN:    PROF. SANWAR LAL JAT: ADV. CHINTAMAN NAVASHA WANAGA:     SHRI NAGAR RODMAL:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  normal  banking  services  were  affected  post  demonetization  and  if  so,  the details thereof; (b) whether  Government  has  received  complaints  against  banks/officials/staff  regarding irregularities  of  converting  black  money  into  while  after  demonetization  and  if  so,  the  details thereof, bank and State/UT-wise along with action taken against such officials, bank/staff; (c) whether the depositors are hesitating to deposit their money in banks due to the limit on cash withdrawals in the country and if so, the  details thereof; (d) whether  the  Government  has  issued  any  relaxation  on  the  withdrawal  limit  of  deposits from bank deposit accounts and if so, the details thereof; (e) whether the banks are accepting old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000  currency from farmers who have taken loans under Kisan Credit Card Yojana and if so, the details thereof; (f) whether the cooperative banks have been authorized to accept the repayment of loan in old currency notes and if so, the details thereof; and the steps taken by the Government to ease problems of public in rural and urban areas in

## ANSWER

## The Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance

(SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

(a):  Banks  staff  had  worked  extra  hours  to  handle  the  increased  volume  of  work  due  to demonetisation of bank notes of Rs. 500 and Rs.1000 with effect from November 8, 2016.

- (b):  Whenever complaint against a bank official(s) is received and any irregularities are found or observed on the part of Bank's official(s), the Banks initiate action as per their extant rules and commensurate punishment is awarded to the delinquent employees based on the seriousness of the wrong doings as per Bank's disciplinary rules.

(c)  It came to the notice of RBI that certain depositors are hesitating to deposit their monies into bank  accounts  in  view  of  the  current  limits  on  cash  withdrawals  from  accounts.  As  it  was impeding active circulation of  currency  notes,  it was  decided, to allow  withdrawals  of  deposits made in current legal tender notes on or after November 29, 2016 beyond the current limits.

(d)  Higher withdrawal limits have been allowed in following conditions:

- (g) this regard?
-  The cash withdrawal  limits for individual accounts are not applicable to cash withdrawal from  a  bank  account  by  one  bank  from  another  bank,  Post  Office,  Money  changers operating at International airports and operators of White Label ATMs.
-  Governments Departments have been allowed to draw cash beyond the stipulated limit, in exceptional  cases,  only  on  production  of  evidence  justifying  their  cash  requirements  in writing, at the discretion of an officer in the rank of General Manager and above.
-  Farmers  have  been  allowed  to  draw  upto  ₹  25000/ -  per  week  in  cash  from  their  loan (including  Kisan  Credit  Card  limit)  or  deposit  accounts  subject  to  their  accounts  being compliant with the extant KYC norms.
-  Current  Account  holders,  Overdraft  and  Cash  Credit  accounts  have  been  allowed  to withdraw up to ₹ 50000 in cash, in a week if they have been operational for the last three months  or  more.  The  facility  is  also  available  to  the  traders  registered  with  APMC markets/mandis provided that  such accounts  are  compliant  with  the extant  KYC  norms and are operational for the last three months or more.
-  Cash withdrawal to the extent of Rs 2.5 lakhs per account has been permitted on grounds of marriage subject to certain conditions in the interest of genuine cases.

(e)    Deposits of Specified bank Notes into all types of deposit/loan accounts  of banks (except DCCBs) have been allowed subject to CTR/STR reporting.

(f)      Only  Urban  Co-operative  Banks and  State Co-operative  Banks have been authorized    to accept the deposit/ repayment of loan in old currency notes.

(g):   Various steps taken by the RBI to ease problems of public in rural and urban areas are as under:-

- I. It has been decided that NABARD would be utilizing its own cash credit limits up to about ₹ 23,000 crore to enable the DCCBs to disburse the required crop loans to PACS and farmers.  As  many  of  these  loans  will  be  disbursed  in  cash  to  facilitate  farming  related expenses  banks  with  currency  chests  have  been  advised  that  they  should  ensure adequate cash supply to the DCCBs and RRBs as well as to the  rural branches of all commercial banks.
- II. Farmers  have  been allowed  to  draw  upto  ₹  25000/ -  per  week  in  cash  from  their  loan (including Kisan Credit Card limit) or deposit accounts.
- III. Specified  bank  notes  in  the  denomination  can  be  used  for  making  payments  towards purchase  of  seeds  from  the  centres,  units  or  outlets  belonging  to  the  Central  or  State Governments, Public Sector Undertakings, National or State Seeds Corporations, Central or  State  Agricultural  Universities  and  the  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research,  on production of proof of identity.
- IV. Traders  registered  with  APMC  markets/mandis  have  been  permitte d  to  draw  up  to  ₹ 50,000/- from their current accounts.
- V. For  the  poor  people,  the  deposit  of  SBN  and  withdrawal  of  new banknotes  have been permitted from basic JDY account.
- VI. Banks  have  been  advised  to  deploy  their  Micro  ATMs  (Bala  Mitras,  etc)  near  village Panchayat Offices etc.
- VII. For  providing  exchange  /  deposit/  withdrawal  facility  to  people  residing  in  remote/ unbanked areas, banks have been advised to consider using mobile vans.
- VIII. Telephone Helpline was set up by Reserve Bank and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) were uploaded on RBI website.

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