RBI directs banks to maintain 40% notes supply to rural areas

New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday directed the banks to supply 40 per cent of the total currency notes to the rural areas.

The decision has been taken keeping the problems of a certain section of people in view who are still facing crunch even after December 30, the due date of exchanging old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from banks.

To get the problem solved quickly, the government has not yet eased the withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000 per week.

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RBI in an official notification claimed that observing that the amount of bank notes being supplied to rural areas in not proportionate to the requirement some measures have been taken.

"Banks should advise their currency chests to step up issuance of fresh notes to rural branches of regional rural banks (RRBs), district central cooperative banks (DCCBs) and commercial banks, white label ATMs and post offices in rural areas on a priority basis which are considered as main rural channels of distribution," it said.

The directive has been made just a couple of days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on the eve of New Year appealed to the banks to make all possible efforts to restore normalcy as quickly as possible and the focus should be on rural areas.

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"I have asked all officers concerned in the government to focus their attention on this task. They have especially been told to proactively resolve the problems in rural and remote areas," Modi had said.