Banks wear deserted look on last day for exchanging notes

Mumbai: As the 50-day window to deposit scrapped higher denomination notes in banks ended on Friday, there was less rush witnessed at various city banks. A senior executive with a private sector bank said that only a few people, as compared to the initial days of demonetisation, visited their branch on Friday to deposit old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

“I deposited all my savings in the first two weeks after demonetisation was announced. I wish I would have been more patient and deposited it in the last few days, as there was no rush at the nearest bank branch,” said Shyamlal Dhulia, a Ghatkopar resident.

Juhu-based entrepreneur Sunil Sharma said, “Panic among the people during the initial days of demonetisation had led to customers rushing to banks to deposit their money.” He added: “Honest tax payers should have been provided with some arrangement or should have been given preferential treatment to deposit or exchange their cash.”

A grocery shop owner in suburban Andheri said, “Though there are no queues outside ATMs, the cash crunch still persists.” Nagesh Dubey, a chartered accountant, said, “Demonetisation will prove to be beneficial in the long run and it was needed for an overhaul of the currency management system.”

Mr Dubey added: “The demonetisation process will also bring unaccounted money into the system, which will provide a roadmap to the government to launch and execute developmental projects. This is going to be beneficial in the long run.”