Wedding withdrawals only on paper as banks run dry

Saikat Ray | TNN | Nov 19, 2016,KOLKATA: The finance ministry might have relaxed the cash withdrawal limit for weddings to Rs 2.5 lakh, but banks are not ready to comply with the new regulation yet. The queues in front of banks and ATMs have gone down following the introduction of indelible ink mark after currency exchange, but the cash situation in currency chests of most of the banks remain tight due to non-arrival of the new Rs 500 notes.

An official of a PSU bank on S N Banerjee Road said that a few people have already approached them with wedding cards and the branch manager has asked them to formally apply with their bank account numbers. "Either the bride or the groom should have an account in our branch. We have to check the application because the wedding card can be fake," the official added.

A leading public sector bank in Behala could only offer Rs 24,000 when a customer approached them with a wedding card. "We do not have enough cash to pay Rs 2.5 lakh to a single customer," an official added. An executive of a private sector bank in Dharmatala said that on Friday they did not disburse Rs 2.5 lakh to any customer withdrawing for a wedding because the branch has yet to receive any circular in this regard.

Chief general manager of SBI (Bengal Circle) Partha Pratim Sengupta pointed out that it is not a normal situation, so the supply of money will be limited. "The bank will assess the situation and review it," he added. However, he made it clear that though the Rs 500 note is yet to arrive, there is no major liquidity crunch in the system. "Logistics is a problem which we are sorting out," he added. On Friday, SBI introduced mobile vans for dispensing money, which will be stationed in front of hospitals and emergency services.

However, both public sector and private sector banks continued to recalibrate ATMs on Friday. SBI has recalibrated more than 1,000 ATMs; the number for UBI was over 150, while HDFC Bank recalibrated over 60 ATM'. HDFC Bank head corporate communication Neeraj Jha said that the staff are working tirelessly and often over extended hours to mitigate, if not totally eliminate, the inconvenience caused to customers.

President of All India Bank Employees Association Rajen Nagar has asked the Centre to step up flow of Rs 500 as soon as possible.