₹2,000 banknote exchange: Business as usual at Chandigarh banks as only a handful turn up
It was business as usual at Sector 17’s Bank Square, with only around 10 to 12 people waiting in the queue at the SBI Bank and crowd was even scarcer at the Punjab National Bank, with only four to five customers coming in to exchange the currency.
Despite banks beginning to accept ₹2,000 banknotes for exchange from Tuesday, no major rush was witnessed at the facilities.
It was business as usual at Sector 17’s Bank Square, with only around 10 to 12 people waiting in the queue at the SBI Bank. The crowd was even scarcer at the Punjab National Bank, with only four to five customers coming in to exchange the currency.
An official at the latter bank said not many people turned up on the first day of exchange, adding, “Since morning, only four people have turned up to exchange notes.”
Attributing the same to Punjab and Chandigarh observing a public holiday on Tuesday, a senior bank officer at the HDFC Bank said residents might be under the impression that banks have remained closed as well. “At some branches, more people had turned up to exchange the currency,” he said.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had on May 19 announced the withdrawal of the highest-value currency notes from circulation.
Sumit Sehgal, a resident of Sector 34, who had come to exchange currency at the SBI, Sector 17, said, “I was expecting a huge rush on day one, but when I came, I found only a few people in the bank and it took me only five to seven minutes to exchange my currency.”
A senior bank officer at SBI Mohali, meanwhile, said, “We are bound to exchange the money and are accepting only ₹20,000 in one go. In case, the person does not have an account in our bank, he can show us any KYC documents, and currency will be exchanged.” .
Notably, most banks are yet to set up separate counters for exchange.
Heavy police were deployed outside the RBI office in Sector 17.
RBI has advised all banks to maintain “daily data on deposit and exchange” of ₹2,000 banknotes in a specific format and provide a proper waiting area, with drinking water facilities to the customers.
A few tricity residents, however, also voiced displeasure over some banks asking them to fill out a form for the exchange of the currency.
On Tuesday, IDFC First Bank and Central Bank of India branches were found asking people to fill out the form for the exchange of currency. In response, the members of Citizen Committee House Owners Welfare Association, Sector 25, Panchkula, wrote a letter to the Central Bank of India, Sector 25, branch manager, complaining about the same.
Association general secretary Bhagwan Dass Mittal said, “When there are clear-cut guidelines of RBI not to fill out any form, why is the Central Bank of India asking the people to fill the form.”
Petrol pumps witness spike in cash transactions
Cash transactions have witnessed a significant spike at petrol pumps since the Reserve Bank of India’s announcement on the withdrawal of ₹2,000 notes, with customers looking to get rid of the denomination, petrol pump employees and owners said on Tuesday.
“Though there is no challenge in depositing and exchanging the ₹2,000 notes from the banks, people have started using them for purchases. The cash transactions have increased four to five times and it is becoming difficult for us to arrange the notes of lower value,” Arjan Singh, a Sector 17 petrol pump dealer said.
Meenu Choudhary, an employee at a Sector 31 petrol pump, said, “We are getting a significantly higher number of ₹2,000 notes in the last few days.”
Ashwinder Singh Mongia, president of Mohali Petrol Pump Association, said, “There were apprehensions on the first day after the announcement, but we continued to accept the high-value notes. Earlier, 50% of the transactions were cash, but now it has increased to around 85% of the total transactions.”
“We are encouraging people not to give ₹2,000 note on getting fuel for just ₹50 or ₹100 and use digital payments instead of cash,” he added.
Petrol pump dealers, however, said the total sale of the day has remained unchanged.
Meanwhile, no major change in cash or online transaction patterns were seen at jewellers.
Chandigarh jewellers association president Rajeev Sahdev said, “We are noting down the details of the customers who are using just ₹2,000 notes for purchasing the jewellery. Even on a routine day, payments exceeding ₹2 lakh are done using cheques or net banking so we are not facing difficulty.”
“Since there is no cap on depositing the money in banks, we are easily accepting the notes, but have witnessed a slight increase in the number of customers,” Vinod Talwar, Jewellers Association Chandigarh president said.
