Mumbai: With pension and salaries expected to be credited into bank accounts by next week, there is a fear that senior citizens and others will crowd the bank branches at least in rural India. This will be the case despite the lockdown and Coronavirus scare.
A bank official said, “We already operate with less staff. So, if there is an influx of people coming to the branch for any service it will be difficult to handle them.” Adding to this, Devidas Tuljapurkar, General Secretary, MSBEF, said, “Banking officials are scared about this situation. It is not only risky for bank employees but will result in spreading the virus. The State Government Treasury prohibits banks from issuing ATM Cards. This guideline needs to be amended. So, banks should issue cards to pensioners so that they can carry out their transactions through ATM.”
Usually in the first week of every month, banks in the rural areas see a good number of retired citizens visit banks to withdraw cash. EPFO has already directed its offices to ensure payment of pension to 65 lakh beneficiaries by March 30. So, one can maybe expect the movement of people by the last day of March itself. “Most senior citizens are not comfortable with using digital channels. So, the branch visit is very common among them,” added a bank official.
It cannot be forgotten that people who are over the age of 60 are at a higher risk of developing a severe case of Coronavirus, according to WHO.
Rinku Mishra, a regular customer with a public sector bank, informed, “The banks are already not getting the cheques cleared. They asked me to wait for over seven days to clear a cheque.”
Commenting on the issue raised by many customers like Mishra, Tuljapurkar said,“Cheques have to be either scanned or have to be couriered to the Reserve Bank of India. In the case of scanning, it only takes place in limited office units of the banks and that too has to be couriered. Due to the lockdown, the courier services are hit. So, how can the clearing of cheques take place on time.”
