People raise questions over banks’ self-imposed withdrawal limits

Ishrat S Banwait

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, December 9

As the cash crunch continues in the city along with queues, residents are questioning decisions being taken by banks at their own level. Many banks have imposed self-declared withdrawal limits, allowing only a particular amount to be withdrawn by each person. The amount varies from bank to bank between Rs 2,000 and Rs 10,000.

The argument of the banks is that they want to serve the maximum number of people with the limited cash they have. However, residents argue that if they are given Rs 24,000 (the limit set by the government) at once, they will not need to visit the bank for the next seven days. This in turn will shorten the queues and save a lot of time of people who come to the bank daily.

Today, many banks seemed to have received cash and the queues were longer than usual. The reason was that banks will remain closed for the next two days. Banks confirm that post-demonetisation, they have not received cash equal to the demand from the RBI on even a single day. The currency chests of the banks are supplying cash to branches according to the daily rush.

Ex-banker has a solution, writes to PM

A retired bank officer and resident of Panchkula, Yoginder Bath Chugh, has written to the Prime Minister to implement innovative ideas to reduce queues in and outside banks. A para-legal volunteer and executive member of the human social justice panel, Chugh says days should be fixed for account holders based on their account numbers.

He says account holders having account numbers ending in 0 and 1 should be dealt with on Monday, account numbers ending in 2 and 3 on Tuesday and so on. This will serve all people and they will not visit until the next week keeping in mind the Rs 24,000 limit for savings accounts and Rs 50,000 for current accounts.

Saturdays, according to Chugh, can be reserved for senior citizens and women. To make the process easier, a similar odd-even scheme can be followed. Such methods can help save time, reduce queues and serve the public better. Emergency cases can be dealt with separately, adds Chugh.