In view of a large number of reports of money laundering through Jan Dhan Yojana bank accounts, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has placed withdrawal limits. Fully KYC compliant Jan Dhan account holders will be allowed to withdraw Rs 10,000 in a month while limited or non KYC compliant account holders may be allowed to withdraw Rs 5,000 per month. The RBI added that branch managers may allow withdrawals beyond Rs 10,000 within the current applicable limits (Rs 24,000 per week) only after ascertaining the genuineness of such withdrawals and duly documenting the reasons on the bank’s record. The balance held in Jan Dhan accounts has shot up following the demonetization of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes. For the week ended November 23, Jan Dhan accounts held Rs 72,834.72 crore from Rs 64,252.156 crore from the week ended November 16. The demonetization drive was started on November 8 and the balance in Jan Dhan accounts stood at Rs 45,636.60 crore as of November 9. Currently, there is a Rs 24,000 weekly withdrawal limit. Many banks including ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are rationing how much people can withdraw in cash. ICICI Bank’s managing director and CEO Chanda Kochhar avoided answering questions that cash was being rationed out to customers in a recent call with the press. Publicly, most banks have gone on record that there is no need for panic and that there is ample amount of cash in bank branches. Opening multiple accounts to launder money There have been a number of…
