Bhubaneswar, Nov. 18: Frequent revision of norms, taking place almost on a daily basis since November 8, have added to the cash confusion here and everywhere in the state.
Till November 11, people believed that one could exchange notes as many times as possible. But, the banks simply refused to exchange notes for those who had already done so. Although one could visit a different branch for exchanging notes, but the confusion still prevails. "I thought that there was no limit to the number of times one could exchange notes. So, after exchanging Rs 4,000 at the Vani Vihar branch of State Bank of India on November 10, I tried to do it again on November 12 only to be told by the bank officials that it was not possible. They did not clarify on the number of times one could exchange notes. Although speculations were rife that one could exchange notes once every 15 days," said Saheed Nagar resident Bipin Mohanty, 45.
A bank official said the system would not accept the ID number of a person, who had already exchanged notes earlier. "We have to turn down a lot of customers' requests to exchange notes every day," he said.
Next, the government raised the withdrawal and exchange limits. While the withdrawal limit was raised to Rs 24,000 from Rs 20,000 per week, the exchange limit was raised to Rs 4,500 from Rs 4,000. "I went to the bank to exchange old notes worth Rs 4,500 but was told by the cashier that it could not be done as the system had not been updated yet. My friends told me that till today, banks were not exchanging notes worth more than Rs 4,000 per person per day," said Nayapalli resident Satyendra Jena, 54.
A bank official said that although the announcement to raise exchange limit was done on November 14, the system had not been updated yet. "If the system is not updated, there is little a bank official can do. We have to follow norms or face the music," he said.
Then, the government, in order to discourage people from exchanging cash more than once, decided to use indelible ink as is being done during elections. On November 16, a day after the decision had been taken, banks simply refused to exchange currency notes citing non-availability of the indelible ink.
"I visited as many as three bank branches, including those of State Bank of India, Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank, to exchange currency notes and was shooed away by the bank officials. The government should have made alternate arrangements or made indelible ink available in abundance before taking such decision. I cannot fathom why a person has to get inked to get hold of money which is his own," rued Rasulgarh resident Sambit Patra, 36.
On this, a bank official said indelible ink was still not available in the bank branches. "We have stopped currency exchange and are waiting for further updates from the Reserve Bank of India," he said.
The lowering of exchange limit to Rs 2,000 from Rs 4,500 is the latest step that has enraged the people. "I went to Reserve Bank of India, Bhubaneswar today and tried to exchange notes for Rs 4,000 but was told that the limit had been lowered to Rs 2,000. I nevertheless tried to exchange Rs 2,000 but had to return disappointed on being offered the new Rs 2,000 note that has become a liability," said Palasuni resident Sachin Mohanty, 25.
Bank official P.P. Panda said several people came to her bank branch today seeking clarification on the lowering of exchange limit.
Hours after Panda spoke to The Telegraph, the Centre announced to stop the process of exchange for a day tomorrow. However, the facilities will be available for senior citizens.
