Co-op banks in Punjab urge RBI to lift curbs on scrapped notes

There are 800 branches of DCCB in Punjab, having lakhs of account holders.

A circular issued by Chief General Manager of RBI on November 14 said the DCCBs could allow their existing customers to withdraw up to Rs 24,000 per week from their accounts till November 24 but no exchange against the specific bank notes (Rs 500 and Rs 1000) or deposits of such notes should be entertained by them.

Gurnek Singh Dhillon, president of Cooperative Bank Employees’ Federation, said he had written a letter to the RBI Governor saying such restrictions would affect the bank very badly. “This is the peak season for recovery of loans from the farmers who had sold their paddy crop. If the banks do not allow deposits, how will they recover loans,” he wrote in the letter. Dhillon said no reason was mentioned in the RBI circular to stop the exchange and deposit facility.

He said about 80 per cent of the of DCCB customers were from rural areas, including farmers, people from weaker sections and cooperative societies. “Many of them do not have accounts with commercial banks. This decision will break the chain of their customers,” Dhillon said.