Yet another crackdown: deposits of more than Rs 5,000 in old notes allowed only once till December 30

The Modi government has been improvising constantly since demonetisation of the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes was announced on November 8, 2016, in order to ensure that it achieves its goals. In yet another crackdown on black money, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ruled on Monday that deposits of amounts above Rs 5,000 in the old, demonetised denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, can be made only once till the designated deadline of December 30, 2016.

The press note released by Chief General Officer P Vijaya Kumar noted that "Tenders of SBNs (Specified Bank Notes) in excess of Rs 5,000 into a bank account will be received for credit only once during the remaining period till December 30, 2016."

The governing body has also included another clause that such deposits of higher amounts will only be accepted and cleared after two bank officials question the depositor and are convinced with the justification provided.

"The explanation should be kept on record to facilitate an audit trail at a later stage. An appropriate flag also should be raised in CBS to that effect so that no more tenders are allowed," it states.

The press release went on to specify that tenders of old demonetised notes in amounts less than or equal to Rs 5,000, will be deposited using the old prescribed procedure, as declared on November 8. But, it cautions that when several such deposits are made, the cumulative amount, if too large, will also be under scrutiny. "Even when tenders smaller than Rs 5,000 are made in an account and such tenders taken together on cumulative basis exceed Rs 5,000 they may be subject to the procedure to be followed in case of tenders above Rs 5,000, with no more tenders being allowed thereafter until December 30, 2016," it says.

Also, the deposits of amounts above Rs 5,000 made will be credited to only KYC compliant accounts. If the accounts are not KYC compliant, the credits may be restricted up to Rs 50,000, depending on the nature of the activity and the track record of the particular account and account holder.

Furthermore, the release contains the following clauses:

1. The above restrictions shall not apply to tenders of SBNs for the purpose of deposits under the Taxation and Investment Regime for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 2016.
2. The equivalent value of specified bank notes tendered may be credited to an account maintained by the tenderer at any bank in accordance with standard banking procedure and production of valid proof of identity.
3. The equivalent value of specified bank notes tendered may be credited to a third party account, provided specific authorisation therefore accorded by the third party is presented to the bank, following standard banking procedure and production of valid proof of identity of the person actually tendering, as indicated in Annex-5 of our circular cited above.