Banks introduce coinomics, customers feel chillar pain

KOLKATA: If you need to withdraw money from the bank, carry a sturdy sack. No, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has not eased the withdrawal limit. That still stands at Rs 24,000 a week. But with many banks handing over half the amount in coins, customers are finding it difficult to accommodate them in their pockets.
On Monday, customers walking into branches of several private- and public-sector banks were taken aback when the staffers said they were willing to encash cheques only if they accepted 50% of the amount in Rs 10 coins.
Abhik Chowdhury, who walked into the Maddox Square branch of a private bank, was shocked at the staff’s insistence on him agreeing to the proposal. “I wanted to withdraw Rs 24,000 but was prepared to settle for Rs 10,000-12,000 as most bank branches had put curbs due to the poor funds situation. So, it was a pleasant surprise when the official said I could withdraw Rs 24,000. The shocker came next when he said at least Rs 12,000 would be in Rs 10 coins,” he recounted.
Chowdhury was willing to take half the amount in Rs 2,000 notes. But the bank staff would have none of it. Exasperated, Chowdhury walked out of the bank without withdrawing any money.
Hundreds of customers in bank branches faced a similar problem on Monday morning as bank officials insisted on offloading the huge quantum of Rs 10 coins that they had been saddled with since the past week and a half. RBI had handed out Rs 30 crore worth coins in Rs 5 and Rs 10 denominations in the third week of November after a plea from the state-level bankers’ committee that was desperate to find a way out of the cash crunch situation and was willing to even handle loose change to meet the spurt in demand.
Bank officials said the coins have been piling up at the banks with customers unwilling to accept them. A conscious decision was therefore taken to push them across the counter on Monday as bank branches were short of notes. “We decided to mix coins with notes so that we could serve more customers while depleting the coin reserve. We are aware that it is an inconvenience but we felt this is the most viable option,” an official of a private bank said.
An official of a nationalised bank said notes and coins would have to be dispensed as per availability. “As RBI is offering a lot of coins, we have no option but hand them over to customers. We would all like if the payment was done in a mix of Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 2000 denominations but that has not happened,” he said.
In bank branches that did not have coin reserves, customers were paid in Rs 2000 notes with soiled Rs 100 notes making for the balance amount. Nearly Rs 500 crore worth Rs 100 notes that were supposed to be withdrawn from the banking system as they were considered frayed for use have been pushed back to tide over the crisis.
A fresh consignment of limited quantity of Rs 500 notes did arrive in Kolkata on Monday afternoon but banks decided to use it to replenish their ATMs. Sources in the banking industry said the problem at bank branches is likely to persist on Tuesday. The situation could ease only by this weekend if the RBI printing press at Salboni prints and despatches the first lot of Rs 500 notes.