Public protests outside RBI offices after being prevented from exchanging old notes

MUMBAI: People protested outside Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) offices in metro cities after the central bank refused to exchange notes from residents demanding proof that they were outside the country when the exchange window was open between November 8 to December 30.

Monday was the first working day after the deadline for depositing the withdrawn notes ended on December 30 and people lined up outside the central bank’s offices to deposit their remaining currency unaware that the latest government ordinance only provides for Indians who were not in the country during the time frame to deposit their old notes.

“There was a large queue outside the RBI branches in Mumbai, Chennai Delhi and Ahmadabad. Here in Kolkata too many people had gathered and had to be turned away following which there were protests. The RBI had to finally close its main gate to prevent chaos,” said a RBI employee in Kolkata.

In Mumbai too the central bank had to shut its main gate. “In the morning there was a huge crowd that gathered following which only one side gate was opened. There was police and media presence too. The situation was normalised in the evening,” said a RBI employee in Mumbai.

On December 30, president Pranab Mukherjee signed the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Ordinance, 2016 which extinguished liabilities of the Reserve Bank for the currency withdrawn

Indians wanting to deposit these notes have to prove that they were outside the country during the period, have to be KYC compliant and should not have deposited the currency previously.

This is another of the many changes announced by the government after prime minister Modi’s shock announcement on November 8 in which he had mentioned that residents who are not able to deposit their old 500 or 1,000 rupee notes by 30 December 2016 can go to specified RBI offices up to 31st March 2017.

Resident individuals now require a copy of passport with an immigration stamp as proof of the individual’s absence from the country during the period November 9, 2016 to December 30, 2016 should be submitted along with an original passport for verification.

CH Venkatachalam, general secretary all India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) said his union is contemplating a strike at the shoddy handling of the note withdrawal. “What is happening is ridiculous. The PM asked for 48 hours for ATMs to start functioning normally and its been 52 days now. We are meeting on 8th, 9th and 10th in Chennai to decide on a nationwide bank strike,” he said.