RBI tightens deposit monitoring, but announces measures to lessen pain

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday tightened monitoring of depositing old notes and said banks will have to ensure that the customers use separate pay-in slips for depositing “specified bank notes” and other legal tender. 

This means customers will have to fill up two separate slips for cash deposits  — one for depositing the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and another for other legal notes in the system. 

Banks will have to maintain a mechanism in their core banking system to maintain a record of receipts of such deposits customer-wise and denomination-wise, “whether for exchange or for deposit by way of a flag to facilitate subsequent verification,” RBI’s notification said. 

To alleviate pain of the customers standing in long queues, RBI also announced a number of measures for banks to follow. 

Banks will now allow current account holders, operational for the last three months or more, withdrawal of up to Rs 50,000 in a week. “Such tenders will be disbursed predominantly in Rs 2,000 denomination only,” RBI said. 
 

At the same time, banks should deploy their micro automated teller machines (ATMs) near “village panchayat offices, police stations/police and military outposts, government departments, offices of public sector units, petrol pumps and other similar secure locations”.

“As it may entail larger volume of cash requirements, banks may enhance the limits of the micro ATMs to at least Rs 50,000 and allow frequent replenishment of cash to them,” the central bank said. 

Banks should also utilise the services of mobile vans for providing exchange, deposit and withdrawal facility to people residing in remote and unbanked areas, the notification said. 

Banks should, in a camp mode, open accounts for tea/coffee and other plantation workers, employees of sugar cooperatives, dairy firms and such other worker groups with concentrated payment locations so that they may be better served in terms of deposits “into accounts and withdrawal therefrom,” RBI said, adding the lenders may consider hiring retired employees for a short period to cope with the increased workload.

In a separate statement, RBI said on Monday that banks should waive levy of ATM charges for all transactions (inclusive of both financial and non-financial transactions) by savings bank customers done at their own banks’ ATMs as well as at other banks’ ATMs, irrespective of the number of transactions during the month.
 

The waiver will be effective from November 10, till December 30, RBI said.