Mumbai, May 6: PM Narendra Modi in November 2016 scrapped old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 as legal tender, and soon after that the ATMs went dry taking a toll on cash flow across the country. However, now the bankers feel similar situation may arise again, as Rs 100 notes are less in number and can create a problem of cash crunch in upcoming days.

According to a news report in Times Of India (TOI), Just like Rs 200 and Rs 2,000 notes, the Rs 100 denomination notes — especially the ones that can fit into ATM cassettes — are in short supply. The report has quoted a banker who said, “This is happening as many of the available Rs 100 notes are soiled and unfit to be placed in the ATMs. Some of them even date back to the year 2005."

To avoid the cash crunch problem, bankers have urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to address the issue urgently. A currency manager of a public sector bank was quoted as saying, “The RBI should introduce new Rs 100 denomination notes aggressively. Otherwise, there will be tremendous pressure on the Rs 500 denomination notes in days ahead.”

In a surprise move the Union government had scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations, intended to eliminate black money and the growing menace of counterfeit currency notes. Soon after this, long queues were seen outside several banks and ATMs. Many also faced problems due to no cash especially those who had marriage ceremonies at home or taking some treatment in hospital and other related reasons.

The report has also taken the reference of RBI data which revealed soon after demonetisation, the RBI pumped in Rs 100 denomination notes in huge quantities. As against an indent of 5,500 million pieces in 2016-17 (demonetisation year), the RBI supplied 5,738 million pieces of Rs 100 notes. Indent is the quantity of notes that banks ask from the RBI.

However, the banker said this was not sufficient because Rs 100 acted as a crucial change currency for the Rs 2,000 denomination notes (when the new Rs 500 notes were not easily available). In the previous financial year (2015-16), the RBI said, it had supplied 440 million pieces (notes) less than the indent. The data for 2017-18 will be made available in August when the RBI publishes its annual report.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 06, 2018 01:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).