After the RBI’s 59th order on demonetisation allowing only one-time deposits of old notes till 30 December – and mandating that depositors be grilled by bank authorities if they have over Rs 5,000 – I decided to deposit Rs 20,000 in old notes in my account. Like several people, I had been holding out until the last moment to avoid the long queues.
Seventy-two hours after the notification, however, the government went back on the diktat after a public outcry, and said that depositors will not be questioned. But I was one of the unfortunate ones who went to deposit their money before the government’s U-turn.
Visiting a bank has always been an uneventful, boring affair – but this time it was distressing. The moment I told a bank employee that I had money to deposit, he stared at me as if I were a criminal. But the worst was yet to come.
‘We Will Not Take Your Deposit, You Can’t Question Us,’ Says Bank Manager
The bank manager refused outright to accept my money, quizzing me on why I had waited this long to deposit it. When I told him that I had wanted to avoid the endless queues, he became obstinate. Asked for specific reasons as to why he wouldn’t accept my money, he became unreasonably rude. This is how the conversation went:
Reporter: Why are you refusing to deposit the money? Please explain.
Bank Manager: Because we are not comfortable doing so. You have not deposited the money all this while. What was the reason for this?
Reporter: I didn’t want to stand in the queues. Why aren’t you okay with accepting deposits now?
Bank Manager: For the past 10 days, there have been no queues. And we cannot accept your deposit, I am sorry. We are not comfortable.
Reporter: Why?
Bank Manager: You can’t question us.
The bank manager and I exchanged heated words for almost 15 minutes. All this while, he failed to explain why wanting to avoid the notoriously long queues didn’t qualify as "a genuine reason".
I was forced to make a phone call to a senior official of the bank. Soon after, the bank manager received a series of calls from his seniors. I was then asked to wait for some time.
After half an hour, the manager came back, his tone and tenor markedly deferential. He was now willing to accept my deposit.
Reporter: What happened that you are now suddenly ready to deposit my money?
Bank Manager: There is a lot of pressure on me.
Reporter: But why were you refusing to accept the deposit earlier?
Bank Manager: If someone gives a vague reason like they didn’t have time to deposit the money, I can’t do it.
Reporter: But why is it a vague reason and not a genuine one?
Bank Manager: I know it is a genuine reason. I know you have office commitments. But if I approve the deposit, I cannot justify it.
Clearly, the bank manager only accepted my deposit because he had been instructed to do so after I complained to his seniors. While wanting to avoid queues wasn’t a valid reason earlier, it now suddenly became acceptable.
The question then is, did the manager accept the money simply because a journalist was involved? Or are banks forcing employees to turn away depositors? The entire episode raises key questions that have no clear answers.
Video Editors: Purnendu Pritam and Ashutosh Bharadwaj
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