Exchange of ₹2,000 notes at banks largely smooth on Day 1

There was not much rush at banks on Tuesday, the first day of depositing or exchanging ₹2,000 banknotes, even as some private banks insisted on an identity proof from customers.

Most customers came with only a few ₹2,000 notes, bankers said. Some banks did not start the exchange facility on Tuesday, citing lack of guidelines from their head office.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced the withdrawal of the ₹2,000 denomination notes from circulation and advised people to exchange or deposit the notes by September 30.

“There was no rush as such. Around nine to 10 people had come to deposit ₹2,000 notes since the morning. But they were in small amounts, not more than four to five each,” said an employee at the State Bank of India branch in Kolkata who declined to be named.

Swapan Kumar Das, 69, a retired central government employee, who braved the scorching sun to visit the State Bank of India’s Kalikapur branch in Kolkata, had come to deposit four notes of ₹2,000.

“In the first week of April, bank authorities gave me five ₹2,000 notes. The notes were lying in the cupboard as it was hard to use them. When the guidelines came, I thought of depositing them back in the bank,” said Das.

Kakoli Bhadra, a local resident, returned disappointed from the bank as it did not allow the exchange. “The officials said that the exchange facility hasn’t started yet; only deposit is being accepted,” she said.

In Patna’s Raja Bazar HDFC Bank branch, a casher initially refused to exchange ₹2,000 notes, saying that there were no guidelines from the headquarter yet. He asked customers to deposit the money in their account, claiming that the branch had received ₹14,00,000 in ₹2,000 denomination in the accounts.

When some customers insisted on exchange, he handed them a form and sought an identity document such as Aadhaar card, driving license or voter ID card.

Bhupinder Mahal, senior manager of New Amritsar branch of Punjab National Bank, said only five to six people came with ₹2,000 notes. “We were expecting long queues, but it did not happen. A possible reason can be people have a lot of time till September 30 to exchange the notes,” he said.

In Ambala, Payal, a cashier at a nationalised bank, who only gave her first name, said no separate counters have been started and any customer can exchange the notes from the cash counters. “No many people had come to exchange the notes,” she said.

At the HDFC Bank branch on Mall road in Ludhiana, there was a long queue at a counter for depositing the high-value banknotes. The bank insisted on ID proof from customers.

A city-based businessman, who is into catering, said he had come to deposit ₹2,000 notes amounting to ₹68,000 at the bank, but it wasn’t accepted. “I have an account with the bank but KYC is pending. I was told to fill a form, submit identification proof and only after verification will I be able to submit the notes. This is utter harassment,” he said, requesting anonymity.

A bank official said they were following Reserve Bank guidelines. Officials at other banks, including Punjab National Bank and state Bank of India said that they had anticipated higher footfall.

“As long as we have cash, we have been instructed to exchange notes, irrespective of how many times that same customer keeps coming,” said Kirandeep Kaur, cashier at Ghumar Mandi’s State Bank of India branch. “By 1.30pm, we have facilitated 50 customers having 10 ₹2,000 notes each.”

Bank officials in Punjab said as Tuesday was a state holiday on the occasion of Guru Arjan Dev’s martyrdom day, the number of customers was low. They anticipated more customers from Wednesday.

In Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, there was no rush at banks. A visit to three bank branches in the city showed that not more than eight to 10 people were there to exchange or deposit ₹2,000 notes. The HDFC Bank Shastri Nagar branch accepted ₹2,000 notes only after jotting down details of the person in a register.

However, the flow of ₹2,000 notes at petrol pumps in various parts of the country remained high. “People are asking for fuel of ₹50 or ₹100 and giving us ₹2000 notes,” said Arun Shetty, a pump attendant of Pratap Sons petrol pump on Mall Road in Kanpur. “My pump has received 15 times more notes than it used to get during normal days,” said Mohd Anwar, whose pump is near Bada Chauraha.