In a bid to make it easier for citizens to deal with the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, the government made 6 significant announcements on Thursday.
The Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das listed the new measures taken by the government to counter cash crunch in a press conference.
The following steps have been taken by the government as announced by Das:
- From Friday, the exchange limit for Rs 500 and 1,000 notes has been lowered to Rs 2,000 from the existing cap of Rs 4,500.
- It will now allow a cash withdrawal of up to Rs 2.5 lakh from the bank account of a bride, groom or their parents for a wedding, provided the account is KYC compliant and a declaration has been given to the bank. However, the amount can only be withdrawn from only one account of a person linked.
- In an effort to let more people exchange notes, the over-the-counter exchange of Rs 500/1,000 in return of new currency will now be available “once per person till December 30”.
- Farmers can now withdraw upto Rs 25,000 per week either by cheque or RTGS transfer against crop loans sanctioned and credited to their accounts.
- The time limit for crop insurance premium cases will be extended by 15 days
- Das also assured that the government has taken adequate measures to fix the ATM-related problems.
- Central government employees up to group C will be allowed to draw salary advance up to Rs 10,000 in cash that’ll be later adjusted against their salaries for the month of November.
- Traders registered with APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) markets can now Withdraw up to rs 50,000 per week, provided their accounts are KYC compliant.
The decision comes a day after the government directed banks to put indelible ink mark on the right index finger of persons to screen them from using the exchange facility more than once.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 8 demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in his bigger war against black money, terror financing and counterfeit notes. Since then a lot of representations have come to Prime Minister and Finance Minister to ease withdrawal norms for wedding purposes.
(With PTI & ANI inputs)
(Feature image source: Twitter/@ANI)
