In a bid to pacify the public, given the hardships being faced by them following demonetisation in the middle of marriage and sowing seasons, the Government on Thursday eased restrictions on cash withdrawal by farmers and families with upcoming weddings. However, it more than halved the limit of exchange of defunct notes.
While the Government allowed withdrawals of up to Rs2.5 lakh for weddings and up to Rs50,000 for farmers per week, it lowered the amount of money that an individual can exchange from Rs4,500 to Rs2,000. The use of indelible ink for exchanging old notes will continue. “Families preparing for a wedding can withdraw up to Rs2.50 lakh from a bank account and we have allowed up to Rs50,000 for farmers per week after giving their PAN details and self-declaration.
“However, with effect from Friday the amount of money that an individual can exchange from banks by handing over the old Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes has been lowered to Rs2,000 from Rs4,500 earlier, only once till December 30,” Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters.
Assuring the public, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that 22,500 ATMs were re-calibrated on Thursday itself. On the decision to limit the exchange of banned Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes to Rs2,000, he said, “The Government’s decision to limit the exchange of banned Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes to Rs2,000, from the existing cap of Rs4,500, would stop misuse of funds.
Also, around 10 per cent of ATMs would be recalibrated to dispense new notes.”
He further added that the decision to allow withdrawals of up to Rs2.5 lakh for marriages was intended as a relief for people.
As far as farmers’ woes are concerned, the Government said those farmers who have taken crop loan or have Kisan Credit Card can withdraw Rs25,000 per week. “Also those who have got payments through RTGS or a cheque deposit in a KYC-compliant bank account can withdraw an additional Rs25,000 a week.
This takes the total cash withdrawal limit for farmers from KYC-complaint bank accounts to Rs 50,000 per week,” said a Finance Ministry directive.
In order to check multiple withdrawals, as per the Finance Ministry’s directives, some select bank branches across metro cities have already started applying indelible ink on the index finger of the right hand. “There is enough cash available with the Government. The reduction in the currency exchange limit is mainly to enable a larger number of people to reach the counter. We find that many people are not able to reach the counter and the same persons are visiting the counter multiple times and other people are not getting the benefits,” Das said.
Ever since demonetisation was announced, a lot of representations have come to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and to the Finance Minister to ease withdrawal norms for weddings. “It has been decided that for weddings up to Rs 2.50 lakh will be permitted to be drawn. And that has to be drawn by one person per marriage, either from the account of the father or the mother or the account of either of the boy or girl, who are getting married. These accounts naturally will have to be KYC compliant,” Das said.