The Reserve Bank of India has reportedly rejected the Election Commission’s request to relax weekly cash withdrawal limits for candidates contesting upcoming Assembly polls in five states.
According to a report in The Economic Times, the Election Commission had suggested a weekly withdrawal limit of Rs 2 lakh per candidate against the current Rs 24,000 permitted for individuals.
The Election Commission had argued that that a weekly withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000 translated into a monthly withdrawal of Rs 96,000 only which was well below the permissible poll expense limit of Rs 28 lakh per candidate in states like in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab. In Goa and Manipur, the poll expense limit per candiadate is Rs 20 lakh.
The RBI, however, refused to make any changes for poll expenses.
“RBI has rejected the request,” ET quoted a person aware of the development.
RBI’s refusal to relax withdrawal limits for poll expenses means that the candidates in upcoming elections will have to increase their reliance on digital payments systems or cheques.
Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa are going to polls in February and March.
Candidates have to open an election account for meeting poll-related expenditure that’s monitored by the EC.
