Mumbai: Co-op credit banks refuse to accept Rs 2,000 notes after RBI withdrawal announcement

Banks across Mumbai are in no mood to exchange Rs 2000 notes after RBI's withdrawal announcement.On May 19, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the withdrawal of the Rs 2000 note. While the note continues to be legal tender, the RBI said existing notes can be deposited or exchanged in banks from May 23 to September 30. The central bank, however, set a limit of “Rs 20,000 at a time” for such exchanges.

Now as per Mid Day report, there seems to be confusion among co-operative credit society banks in the state. For instance, Dnyandeep Co-operative Credit Society Limited, based in Kandivali, has  issued a circular instructing its customers not to accept Rs 2,000 notes and advising them to deposit the currency in national banks only.Laxman Chavan, Chairman of Dnyandeep Society, while speaking to Mid Day said, “We issued a circular on May 20 based on instructions from our society’s directors. In the circular, we also requested our members to deposit or exchange the Rs 2,000 notes at their respective banks. We are not accepting Rs 2,000 notes for loan repayment, fixed deposits, or any other transactions.” He also further explained that they are following the instructions of the Board of Directors. Also, there are no clear instructions for credit societies from RBI.

The report also adds Sangli Vaibhav Co-op Society in Andheri, also not accepting Rs 2000 notes. However, if members want to make a fixed deposit, the society will accept the Rs 2000 notes for a minimum duration of 13 months. As per the RBI, the ₹2,000 note will continue to be a legal tender. It means that the people can continue to use them for their transactions and receive them in payment. But they have been encouraged to deposit and/or exchange these currency notes before September 30 this year. The people can exchange ₹2,000 bank notes up to a limit of ₹20,000 at a time. They can also deposit these notes into their account subject to KYC norms. These notes can be exchanged through business correspondents up to a limit of ₹4000/- per day for an account holder.The RBI has urged people to approach the bank branches from May 23 for exchanging their ₹2,000 bank notes. This is being done to give more time to banks to prepare for the bank exchange process.