Gurgaon bankers protest against RBI’s cap on deposits

Opposing the recent order of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that deposits of above Rs5,000 in scrapped Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes can be made only once till December 30, the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC) staged a protest against the move in Sector 31 on Wednesday afternoon.

They protested against the RBI’s decision to assign bank officers to investigate customers depositing in excess of Rs 5,000, and demanded complete withdrawal of the order as bank officials could face public anger due to it.

Although RBI had partially modified its deposit guidelines on Wednesday morning, the confederation officials still demonstrated outside lead district manager (LDM) Ramesh Chandra Nayak’s office in Sector 31 main market to press for withdrawal of the RBI notification.

Confederation members said the LDM was the local representative of RBI as the central bank does not have an office in Gurgaon.

“Ever since the announcement of demonetisation of high-value currency notes, bank officers and employees are under huge stress. Customer dissatisfaction is increasing because of the chaos and confusion created in implementation of the scheme. Bank officials are being subjected to the anger, anguish and wrath of customers and general public due to short supply of currency notes to banks,” said Satish Vats, joint secretary, Syndicate Bank Officers’ Association, which is a part of the AIBOC.

“Frequent changes in instructions are adding salt to the wounds. The banking system is itself losing credibility because of the policies of the RBI and the government,” he added.

AIBOC members demanded that no accountability should be fixed on bank officers with respect to demonetisation directions as they are thrust with a role not expected of them.

Protesters added that the withdrawal of RBI’s recent directions needs to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself through a public statement. They claimed doing so will rebuild public’s confidence in the banking system and reduce the burden on bank officials across the country.