RBI U-Turn: Multiple Deposits in KYC Accounts Allowed Till 30 Dec

The clarification on RBI’s part comes a day after it took a U-turn on its notification after widespread protests.

The RBI headquarters in Mumbai. (Photo: Reuters)

A day after the Reserve Bank withdrew the notification that barred people from depositing old notes in bank accounts more than once, the central bank on Thursday clarified that people are free to make more than one deposit till 30 December.

The old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes can be deposited at bank branches or in cash deposit machines more than once till 30 December, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

The customers should use separate pay-in slips for making deposits in case of a mixed bunch of demonetised and legal tender notes, it said.

People depositing more than Rs 50,000 in cash in their bank account need to submit a copy of their PAN card in case the bank account details do not have the information.

The clarification comes a day after it made a U-turn on its notification of 19 December after widespread protests from the public.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had clarified the same evening on 19 December that one-time deposits would not attract any scrutiny by bankers. However, on Tuesday, he had insisted that only a one-time deposit would be allowed till 30 December. On Wednesday, the RBI withdrew its norms on KYC deposits, but left it unclear whether multiple deposits would be allowed.

The RBI said that for non-KYC accounts, if a person deposits more than Rs 5,000 in withdrawn currencies, the account will be credited only after questioning him or her in the presence of two bank officials as to why the money was not deposited earlier.

The bankers will also have to keep the explanatory statement on record for future audits.

Even if the non-KYC deposits are less than Rs 5,000 at a time but cumulatively exceed the amount, the bank officials have to get on record an explanation from the depositor of a non-KYC account.

The upper limit of deposits for such accounts is also restricted to Rs 50,000.

The above restrictions do not apply to deposits made under the taxation and investment regime for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.