Harassed bankers don’t want to work until RBI supplies enough cash

Bank employees are facing major issues while dealing with customers lining outside banks to withdraw and deposit cash. Bankers are being locked up, harassed and even beaten up by irritated public for not providing cash.

In this regard, bankers want branches to be shut until the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) assures sufficient supply of currency notes.

"RBI should take a view to stop banking operations for 15 days till adequate money is available. Let RBI close the banks till money comes.
This is an unplanned move - everyone supports removal of black money - but this won't remove black money and is harassing ordinary people and bank employees,” CH Venkatachalam, chief of the All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA), told ET.

Since demonetisation, people are facing acute cash crunch and lining up outside ATMs and banks for cash. When the supply dries up, they resort to unfair means.

Last week, a Punjab National Bank branch in Jamshedpur was ransacked as angry customers smashed glasses and injured a lady staffer. Likewise, in Dhanbad too, a bank branch was ransacked after the manager declared it had run out of cash.

"There has been no action to our appeals to the finance minister, RBI and IBA. How can we manage when there is such scarcity of money in branches?” asked Venkatachalam.

"We can't blame the people - how will they manage without cash? Hardly any ATMs are operating - it's complete chaos,” he told ET.

The AIBEA wrote to the finance minister on December 2, raising the issue of the acute cash shortage. "While RBI is repeatedly making public statements that adequate cash is being supplied to banks, the reality is otherwise,” it said in the letter, a copy of which is with ET. "These statements are making the public to feel that RBI is supplying cash to banks and bank staff are deliberately not extending payments.”