Indian government relaxes withdrawal norms

As it is the start of the winter cropping season in India, the government also announced a palliate money withdrawal process for farmers to ensure smooth supply of seeds and fertilisers

As demonetisation of INR 500 and INR 1,000 currency notes in India left the people with insufficient money to trade for daily necessities, the government has announced relaxations for farmers, families celebrating weddings, government employees and agricultural traders.

Since the Indian government has declared overnight abolishment of old currency notes of INR 500 and INR 1,000, ATMs are witnessing long queues and the decision is taking a toll on small and medium-scale businessmen, farmers and families with upcoming weddings. On top of that, the entire country is struggling to exchange the old currency with new legal tenders, while the banks are finding it arduous to deal with the never-ending stream of customers flowing in.

In order to sooth down the process and ease the problems, the government has modified some of the restrictions, with effect from tomorrow. For families that have an upcoming wedding, one member of the household can now withdraw up to INR 250,000 for once.

“Withdrawals can be done once either by the father, mother, or the bride or the groom. Permanent Account Number (PAN) details will be necessary and the account has to be Know Your Customer (KYC) compliant. A self-declaration has also to be submitted by the person withdrawing the money,” said Shaktikanta Das, secretary, Indian economic affairs.

Know your customer (KYC) is a process of identifying and verifying the identity of clients.

To ward off repetitive money exchanges by the same person from different branches, the government has also instructed banks in the country to use ineradicable ink.

Laying on farmhands and traders

As it is the start of the winter cropping season in India, the government also announced a palliate money withdrawal process for farmers to ensure smooth supply of seeds and fertilisers. “Crop loans are sanctioned by various banks to farmers. The government has allowed INR 25,000 per week for farmers to draw in cash, subject to the limit of which crops they are sowing. This cash can also be taken from their Kisan credit card (Farmer credit card),” Das added.

For farmers who sell their harvests through marketing committees, the government has permitted withdrawal of up to INR 25,000 per week from their accounts against the payments they receive by cheques.

Not to leave behind the agricultural traders, those who are registered with marketing committees can now withdraw up to INR 50,000 per week for their business requisites.

Apart from making life easier for farmers, merchants, grooms and the brides, the government is also trying to reduce the disquiet among its employees. Central government employees up to group C, including people employed in state-owned companies, military, railways and paramilitary organisations, will have a choice to ask for an advance salary of up to INR 10,000 in cash, which will be adjusted against their November salaries.

However, an individual can now only exchange INR 2,000 as compared to the current INR 4,500 from banks by handing over the old INR 500 and INR 1,000.

“To enable larger number of people to get benefit, with effect from November 18, the existing limit of INR 4,500 will be reduced to INR 2,000. This will be once per person. The move is to ensure that a larger number of people reach the exchange counters,” Shaktikanta Das informed.