New notes fail to reach Dharamsala

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, November 10

New currency notes did not reach bank branches in Dharamsala today. Private, cooperative and non-chest banks in Dharamsala were short of currency notes.

Kangra Central Cooperative (KCC) Bank, the biggest cooperative bank of the region, had long queues of customers intending to withdraw money from their bank accounts. The banks had fixed Rs 2,000 withdrawal limit for its customers. Senior manager of the bank, Sunil Parihar, when contacted, said, “Since we have not received new currency notes we are giving Rs 100 notes to the customers. Rs 2000 withdrawal limit has been set for withdrawals as the bank has limited supply of Rs 100 currency notes. As and when we would receive supply of new currency notes the withdrawal limit would be increased”, he said.

Yes Bank had Rs 500 limit for change of currency. Bank officials said that since the bank had limited supply of Rs 100 notes they had fixed a limit of Rs 500.

The HDFC Bank had long queues of customers who had come for exchange of the defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Here also as new currency notes had not yet arrived and people were being given Rs 100 notes in exchange for Rs 500 or Rs 1,000 notes.

The availability of currency notes in the SBI and the PNB that are chest branches in Dharamsala was better.

Against the expectations the people did not rush to the bank branches in and around Dharamsala. Many people expecting rush postponed their visit to the banks. Most of the salaried people were happy with the move of the Modi government to demonetize the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes while the businessmen were unhappy. Small-time traders and shopkeepers alleged that the move had hit their business hard.

Worst hit were the migrant labourers engaged in construction work in and around Dharamsala. Sobha, a migrant labourer from Rajasthan who had come to exchange her Rs 500 note in a bank, said her family had not been able to eat since yesterday as no shopkeeper was accepting her Rs 500 note.

Sources said from tomorrow onwards the ATMs would become functional but they were not sure about the limit of withdrawal in Dharamsala area as banks were short of lower denomination currency and new currency was yet to arrive.

Meanwhile, lower currency denomination notes that were lying in the donation boxes of temples and hospitals were in great demand today. In many cases almost all the lower currency denomination notes in donation boxes of temples and hospitals were changed with higher denomination invalid notes.