Bhopal: Banks remain rush-free as few turn up to deposit Rs 2,000 currency notes

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Bankers in the city said there was no rush on Monday, the second working day after RBI announced withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation.

They said they didn’t expect heavy rush. As Rs 2,000 currency notes have not been demonetized, will continue to be legal tender and as the deadline (September 30, 2023) for exchanging the notes is more than four months away, there is no possibility of panic among people.

The exchange of Rs 2,000 currency notes is scheduled to begin on Tuesday. The chief manager of Bank of Baroda branch said few people visited to deposit two to six currency notes of Rs 2,000 in their account. “People are aware and not panicking. They are seeking information on Whatsapp and phone calls.”

He said they were not expecting much rush. “But we will provide drinking water. Priority will be given to expectant mothers and senior citizens,” he said, adding that they might adopt a token system to make the process smoother.

An SBI branch manager said that customers were coming to deposit Rs 2,000 currency notes. “But its number didn’t increase. It is as usual,” he said.

A Bank of Maharashtra branch manager said, “We will open more counters and deploy more personnel if the footfall is high.”

“We are not expecting much crowd as the circulation of Rs 2,000 currency notes is small. And also customers have enough time to exchange them,” said a branch manager of Union Bank of India.

Will follow RBI

"Everything will be done as per RBI instructions. All banks will have to follow what RBI says. And all the banks will have a similar SOP. There is no question of different banks having different sets of rules and norms."

Tarsem Singh Zira, Central Bank of India zonal head & MP State Level Bankers Committee convener