JOIN USCanara Bank to boost staff strength for currency exchange
Public sector lender Canara Bank is ready to receive existing customers as well as new ones for exchange of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes by deploying more staff.
Speaking to DH, Canara Bank General Manager (Circle Office) M M Chiniwar said, “In each branch, we will display banners on what customers should do to exchange currency notes, deposit cash, withdraw money and the limitations thereof.” The limit for exchange of notes has been capped at Rs 4,000.
“To cater to the heavy rush, we will deploy the staff to branches from the Circle Office (CO) and Regional Office (RO) for the additional cash counters. Virtually, we have stopped all the other work. Only focus is on exchange of currency notes. We are working this Saturday and Sunday, even though they are holidays,” Chiniwar said.
“If you have an account, remit as much cash you want,” the officer said. In a lighter vein, he said, “Don’t ask for exchange of notes. It is cumbersome as it includes paper work.”
“All steps have been taken. In fact, our executives have visited the currency chest to check the availability of new notes. Right now, we have sufficient notes of denomination Rs 100. The process will be absolutely smooth,” Chiniwar said.
“There will be more focus on remittance of cash, as we expect a heavy rush for that. However, other works will not be affected as we are deploying staff from the CO,” he added. Canara Bank has one CO, three ROs, besides the headquarters.
“We are deploying 250 staff extra to 170 branches in Bengaluru. We expect more crowd in 15-20 branches which are in the heart of the city. For such branches, we are deploying more staff,” he said. The bank will work from 10 am to 5 pm. It is arranging staff from Bengaluru for the Kolar and Mandya branches.
“The process will go on for one week and based on the situation, we will decide on continuing it. Ultimately, we have to review every day and keep the RBI updated,” he said.
Deploying employees from CO and RO will not have much impact on NPA (non-performing asset) recovery and processing loans.
In cities like Mangaluru, Hubballi and Raichur, the bank is deploying staff from the respective ROs for a smooth process.
With these additional staff, each branch will have four to five cash counters as lot of paper work is involved.
“It is not just exchange of cash. The person seeking exchange of notes has to fill a request slip, produce Aadhaar or PAN card and the whole process will be captured on camera,” the officer said.
Till date, the ATMs have been configured only for Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. It will take time to put in place a system for the new currency, Chiniwar said.
SBM Employees’ Union general secretary S R Pawar said the bank’s staff would thoroughly check and accept genuine notes and this could result in delays. He appealed to the customers to co-operate with the staff.