There will no over the counter exchange of currency tomorrow (Saturday) as banks have requested for a one-day break from the heavy workload.
The only exception will be for senior citizens.
Deposits and withdrawals will continue.
“The entire staff of the banks have been dedicated to this for several days. Our own customers have been suffering,” Rajeev Rishi, chairman of the Indian Banks Association said.
[polldaddy poll=9583977]
This follows 10-days of continuous efforts by lakhs of bank employees across India to get new currency notes into the hands of the people.
The government has, meanwhile, expanded the deposit-withdrawal infrastructure. Besides being able to withdraw 4,500 via banks, each account holder can also withdraw money via 2,500 petrol pumps of the three state-owned petrol retailing companies from tomorrow.
Separately, the government is also learnt to be concerned about the usage of the over-the-counter exchange facility by black money hoarders and other unscrupulous elements to beat the ongoing crack down.
There are reports of gangs who stand in queue all day, going from one bank to another, to exchange black money into new notes.
To crack down, the government has reduced the exchange limit to 2,000 per head after giving 4,000 per person for the first 8 days.
There is a strong possibility that over-the-top exchange will be stopped altogether.
Around 35,000 ATMs have been recalibrated for disposing 2,000-rupee notes. The other 1.8 lakh ATMs will either remain disfunctional or disburse only 100 rupee notes.