A day after the government asked the banks to use indelible ink on the right index finger of everyone who goes to the cash counter to exchange his/her scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the Reserve Bank of India today said that banks will not facilitate the exchange of currency notes beyond the one-time limit of Rs 4,500.
In effect, this means that you can only exchange your old currency notes up to Rs 4,500 once till the December 30 window provided by the government. Any individual who goes to a bank to get his/her currency note exchanged and is marked with the indelible ink on his finger will not be allowed to make another exchange at the bank again.
The remaining amount will have to be either deposited at bank accounts or can be exchanged at post-offices which will facilitate the exchange of Rs 4,500 once a week.
The RBI’s clarification comes in the form of an updated set of FAQs updated on its website today. It seeks to put to rest confusion that people without bank accounts can exchange Rs 4,500 daily from different bank branches till December 30.
"You can exchange upto ₹4500 only once. As per the Standard Operating Procedure advised to banks, while exchanging the specified banknotes, the bank branch concerned, issue office of RBI or post offices would put indelible ink mark on the right index finger of the customer so as to identify that he/she has exchanged the old currency notes," the RBI FAQs read.
The RBI further clarified that if a person doesn’t have an account, he/she can deposit their money in a relative/friend’s account but only after seeking permission in writing.
As per the central bank, depositors seeking to deposit money into the bank account of a friend or relative will have to furnish to the bank evidence of permission given by the account holder and a valid identity proof.
Yesterday, the government had asked the banks to use indelible ink on the exchanger’s finger to stop multiple exchanges which were causing immense problems to genuine depositors.
The RBI’s clarification comes in the form of an updated set of FAQs updated on its website today. It seeks to put to rest confusion that people without bank accounts can exchange Rs 4,500 daily from different bank branches till December 30.
