Bank employees cannot refuse to accept any Indian currency note, be it a Rs 50 note or a Rs 2000 note, on the pretext of it being soiled, discolored, or is written upon.

This directive issued by the Reserve Bank of India has created an apprehension among bank employees, because if they refuse to take such notes, then they could be punished for the refusal.

UT was made aware of such an instance at interbank level, when a cooperative bank operating locally, informed that the city chest branch (SBBJ-SBI) had refused to accept currency notes from the local bank had at its end accepted the same from the public, citing RBI instructions.  This new circular from RBI will make it clear that if such an instance repeats, legal action can be taken.

Earlier, in December, the RBI has issued a notice, requesting people not to write or discolor a currency note, however, it was taken otherwise and banks had started rejecting such currency.  As per RBI, this was a normal notice, asking people to respect the currency  – however the banks had used the wordings to stop taking soiled currency.  Such a notice also went viral across social media, causing confusion.

General Manager, RBI, GC Talukdar, in a written notice to all Bank, has asked the CEOs to inform all their branches to accept soiled and scribbled notes, failing which action will be taken.  Head of Tresury at SBI Udaipur, Brijkishor, has also said that following instructions from RBI, the confusion is now done away with. He also informed that on the third Sunday of every month, the SBI Chest branch processes exchange of soiled currency notes from individuals.

Source Courtesy: Dainik Bhaskar