Demonetization finally over: RBI removes all limits on cash withdrawals

All limits on savings bank cash withdrawals that were imposed by the central bank post-demonetization ended on Monday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced.

The weekly withdrawal limit per account had been raised to Rs 50,000 from Rs 24,000 with effect from February 20, and all limits on ATM withdrawals were slated to cease from March 13. The announcement was made by RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi in the post monetary policy review announcement by the central bank in February - the last policy of the fiscal, when it kept its key interest rate unchanged at 6.25%. The status quo was maintained as the RBI said it awaited data on the full impact of demonetization.

On January 30, the RBI had ended all curbs on withdrawals from current accounts, cash credit accounts and overdraft accounts. The limits were placed following the November 8 demonetization of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. The upper limit at ATMs was just Rs 2,500 initially and was later raised to Rs 4,500. In January, the RBI had hiked the daily ATM withdrawal limit to Rs 10,000 and doubled the weekly current account withdrawal limit to Rs 1 lakh.

The upper limit for weekly withdrawal from bank accounts had been raised to Rs 24,000 from Rs 20,000 in November. While the curbs on cash withdrawals have now, in effect, ended, it remains to be seen whether most of the ATMs can match up the demand for cash. While certain areas have returned to normalcy, there are some others that are still low on cash.