Deposits of more than Rs 2 lakh crore of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have come into banks so far, but recalibrating ATMs to dispense the new notes will take two to three more weeks, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday.
The ATMs could not have been calibrated in advance for the new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes to maintain secrecy.
“There are technological limitations. It would take two-three weeks to recalibrate the nearly 2 lakh ATMs in the country,” he said at a press conference in New Delhi.
“It is a long-drawn process,” Jaitley said.
“Since new notes are of different sizes, it is taking time to recalibrate the ATMs. That is why mostly Rs.100 notes being dispensed from ATMS right now, recalibration will take some time,” he said.
Any move to recalibrate ATMs in advance would need thousands of people and secrecy would be compromised. “It would have given the whole game away,” he said.
The RBI’s 4000-odd currency chests across the country have sufficient cash, which is being transported to banks and post offices, Jaitley said.
State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest bank, have reported Rs 47,868 crore cash deposits of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 note till 12:15 pm on Saturday, Jaitley said.
Given that SBI and its arms account for 20-25 percent of all banking activities in the country, between Rs1.5 to Rs 2 lakh crore have been deposited in the banks in the first two-and-half days after the government unexpectedly “demonetized” old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes since Tuesday midnight.
SBI has reported 58 lakh transactions of involving exchange of old currency notes, 22 lakh ATM transactions and 33 lakh withdrawals from bank branches, Jaitley said.
The RBI is exploring if smaller currencies need to be circulated to meet additional demand for currency notes, the finance minister said.
“Depending on the rush, government will decide if the banks have to operate on weekends as well,” he said.
The government on Tuesday scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes as part of the strategy to clamp down on India’s bustling parallel cash economy.
New Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes have been issued.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the surprise announcement in an unplanned address to the nation stunning households, businesses and traders and forcing people out of homes to queue up in ATMs and bank branches.
People have been given 50 days (From November 10 to December 30) to deposit notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in any bank or post office without any limit.
The finance minister acknowledged that people are getting inconvenienced, but currency replacement of this magnitude will cause problems.
“There are reports that money has been deposited in Jan Dhan accounts. We will check these,” he said.
The government is also keeping a close watch on reports of bullion being used to convert cash.
He also said that the government has definite information on terror funding and procurement of weapons.
Jaitley dismissed reports that there has been a surge in bank deposits from July to September, hinting that information on the currency demonetisation may have been selectively leaked to benefit a few.
“As per RBI records, in the last one year, there was a spike in deposits in one month only, in September. It was due to disbursal of pay commission arrears,” he said.
Jaitley described as “irresponsible” the rumours, like the one related to salt price.
“Among political reactions, there were irresponsible ones too. Some people have problems with the efforts to cleanse the system. Some are asking for one more week,” he said.
He asked the business and trading community to start using digital payment gateways, cards and banking system. “Life will become simpler as in the new financial system that is only viable option,” the minister said.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
