While the RBI circular says that one can exchange Rs 4,000 a day, banks say that their branches can do so only once in a time band. Next you wait for 1.5 to 2 hours, which the author did, and you are provided with two Rs 2,000 notes. Are these notes useful? Definitely not now as there are no takers for the same as people need change which is not available. (It has to be noted the limits have changed on Sunday night. Read about it here.)
The crowd here is generally from the lower and middle income groups as they need this more than the affluent who can wait. Further while the RBI web site and government notification has a form appended, you cannot use it as banks have their own versions which added some more details and hence one cannot go prepared for the same. Some insist on writing the number of the notes as well as providing your phone numbers while others do not. Quite clearly this has not been thought of when the circular was issued.
There are separate queues for deposits and withdrawals. At present, bankers say that there are no Rs 500 notes (as of Sunday 13 November) provided and hence a withdrawal of Rs 10,000 could be meaningless with only Rs 2,000 notes being dispensed.
The deposits queue have the more affluent who come with stacks of notes and these queues move faster than the exchange ones. The latter runs the risk of coming to an end anytime money is exhausted. One has not come across bank branches which admit a fixed number of people through a system which ensures that you do not stand for two hours and asked to go without the money. It is hence a matter of chance.
The ATM story is still bizarre. On the 11 November one moved in a radius of 4 kms between Andheri East and Vile Parle East (in Mumbai), which houses around 25 ATMs. Several ATMs of Kotak Bank and YES Bank were closed with shutters down. The security guard said that cash was not received.
(Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy:oneindia.com)
