Slow but steady inflow of new notes deposits starts in banks

The currency crunch in the first 10-12 days following the demonetisation announcement had driven people to bank branches and ATMs in hoards, all of them withdrawing the maximum permissible limits of Rs 24,000 each week for four-five weeks. In the sixth week, there has been a perceptible slowdown in the rush with fewer people turning up at bank branches. According to bank officials, the customer turnout was now110th of what branches experienced a month ago. This, they believe, because most customers had, in the early wave of panic, withdrawn more money than they needed. “Now that queues at bank branches and ATMs have disappeared in the city and cash crunch is not so severe, people are realizing they have excess cash,” said an HDFC Bank branch manager.