PANAJI : Indelible ink meant to check repeat exchange of scrapped currency notes arrived in Goa late Thursday afternoon and only at branches of the State Bank of India. Other banks in the state have not received the ink.
The branch manager at SBI, treasury branch, said that indelible ink arrived during the day and was used on people who came to exchange the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.
“Henceforth we will be using it on all customers who come to exchange notes,” he said.
Vials of the ink were supplied to all branches of SBI by the zonal branch but towards the close of banking hours. As a result customers who came before the lunch escaped from getting marked.
“The ink will stop throngs of people crowding banks and its impact will be known in a day or two,” said the treasury branch manager.
On the other hand, an officer of Bank of India, Campal, revealed that indelible ink was not applied on any customers who came to exchange notes.
“The ink is not available to us… we don’t know when it will arrive,” he said, adding that there is no reduction in the number of people coming in to exchange old notes.
The Campal branch of BOI witnessed heavy crowds during the day with most of the people coming in to exchange and deposit old notes. The ATM attached to the branch was working in the morning but had run out of cash by afternoon.
An official of Canara Bank, Panaji, disclosed that indelible ink has not arrived at their branch.
“We are expecting it shortly from head office,” he said.
The RBI has asked banks to start applying indelible ink mark on the right-hand index finger of customers to stop people from taking advantage of the exchange window for swapping demonetised notes with acceptable currency. However, several customers are queuing up again and again and there is no proof that the notes belongs to them.
The window that has been set up to alleviate the suffering of poor people from the demonetisation is being misused by individuals with unaccounted money. Money is getting over quickly and banks are facing shortage of currency.
There is a standard operating procedure issued by the RBI on application of the indelible ink. It has to be applied on the right-hand index fingers of customers. A customer once marked cannot approach the exchange counter again. The ink is to be supplied to banks by the Indian Banks Association or procured by individual banks from the Mysore Paints and Varnish company.
Banks in Goa, excluding SBI, have not got their requirements of indelible ink from the IBA. Banks are also not allowing accountholders to withdraw at one go the Rs 24,000 per week as permitted by the RBI due to the currency crunch.