Despite banks starting to just accept 2,000 banknotes for trade from Tuesday, no main rush was witnessed on the amenities.

It was enterprise as standard at Sector 17’s Bank Square, with solely round 10 to 12 folks ready within the queue on the SBI Bank. The crowd was even scarcer on the Punjab National Bank, with solely 4 to 5 prospects coming in to trade the forex.

An official on the latter financial institution mentioned not many individuals turned up on the primary day of trade, including, “Since morning, only four people have turned up to exchange notes.”

Attributing the identical to Punjab and Chandigarh observing a public vacation on Tuesday, a senior financial institution official on the HDFC Bank mentioned residents could be underneath the impression that banks have remained closed as nicely. “At some branches, more people had turned up to exchange the currency,” he mentioned.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had on May 19 introduced the withdrawal of the highest-value forex notes from circulation.

Sumit Sehgal, a resident of Sector 34, who had come to trade forex on the SBI, Sector 17, mentioned, “I was expecting a huge rush on day one, but when I came, I found only a few people in the bank and it took me only five to seven minutes to exchange my currency.”

A senior financial institution official at SBI Mohali, in the meantime, mentioned, “We are bound to exchange the money and are accepting only 20,000 in a single go. In case, the individual doesn’t have an account in our financial institution, he can present us any KYC paperwork, and forex might be exchanged.” ,

Notably, most banks are but to arrange separate counters for trade.

Heavy police have been deployed outdoors the RBI workplace in Sector 17.

RBI has suggested all banks to take care of “daily data on deposit and exchange” of 2,000 banknotes in a selected format and supply a correct ready space, with consuming water amenities to the shoppers.

Just a few tricity residents, nevertheless, additionally voiced displeasure over some banks asking them to fill out a kind for the trade of the forex.

On Tuesday, IDFC First Bank and Central Bank of India branches have been discovered asking folks to fill out the shape for the trade of forex. In response, the members of Citizen Committee House Owners Welfare Association, Sector 25, Panchkula, wrote a letter to the Central Bank of India, Sector 25, department supervisor, complaining about the identical.

Association common secretary Bhagwan Dass Mittal mentioned, “When there are clear-cut guidelines of RBI not to fill out any form, why is the Central Bank of India asking the people to fill the form.”

Petrol pumps witness spike in money transactions

Cash transactions have witnessed a major spike at petrol pumps because the Reserve Bank of India’s announcement on the withdrawal of 2,000 notes, with prospects seeking to eliminate the denomination, petrol pump workers and house owners mentioned on Tuesday.

“Though there isn’t any problem in depositing and exchanging the 2,000 notes from the banks, folks have began utilizing them for purchases. The money transactions have elevated 4 to 5 instances and it’s turning into troublesome for us to rearrange the notes of decrease worth,” mentioned Arjan Singh, a Sector 17 petrol pump vendor.

Meenu Choudhary, an worker at a Sector 31 petrol pump, mentioned, “We are getting a considerably greater variety of 2,000 notes in the previous couple of days.”

Ashwinder Singh Mongia, president of Mohali Petrol Pump Association, mentioned, “There were apprehensions on the first day after the announcement, but we continued to accept the high-value notes. Earlier, 50% of the transactions were cash, but now it has increased to around 85% of the total transactions.”

“We are encouraging folks to not give 2,000 be aware on getting gas for simply 50 100 and use digital funds as a substitute of money,” he added.

Petrol pump sellers, nevertheless, mentioned the full gross sales for the day have remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, no main change in money or on-line transaction patterns was seen at jewellers.

Chandigarh jewelers affiliation president Rajeev Sahdev mentioned, “We are noting down the details of the customers who are using just 2,000 notes for purchasing the jewellery. Even on a routine day, payments exceeding 2 lakh are done using checks or net banking so we are not facing difficulty.”

“Since there is no cap on depositing the money in banks, we are easily accepting the notes, but have witnessed a slight increase in the number of customers,” mentioned Vinod Talwar, Jewelers Association Chandigarh president.