However, several other banks have yet to decide on the process they would use during the four-month exercise to exchange and deposit the highest-denomination notes beginning Tuesday. All banks must implement a system that they intend to implement on Monday.
SBI, the country’s largest lender, made its position clear in a note to its chief executives on Saturday, adjusting a set of instructions issued a day earlier. In its Sunday edition, TOI reported that the RBI did not require the submission of proof of identity or the completion of a form. It just wants deposit rules to be followed.
While the SBI’s decision may influence how other banks, particularly those in the public sector, approach the deal, it may not be as easy to exchange notes at private banks.
Even getting a cashier’s check from a private lender where you don’t have a bank account is no easy feat, with several branches turning customers away, saying they’re not allowed to offer the facility. And those without Aadhaar or PAN in their possession often have to follow a long process. Even during demonetization, public actors had to bear the brunt, especially when it came to those who didn’t have bank accounts.
Over the weekend, state-owned banks consulted their zone offices to set out the process and facilitate the exchange. The RBI has allowed the exchange of up to 10 Rs 2,000 banknotes at bank branches with no cap on bank account deposits.
Sources said there is no limit to how many times a person can queue, even at the same bank branch. The idea is to facilitate the exchange of high denomination banknotes under RBI’s clean note policy.
