People Queue Up Outside ATMs After RBI Takes Over Yes Bank Board, Caps Withdrawals At ₹50,000 Per Account

Harried Yes Bank depositors in Mumbai hurried to ATMs to withdraw cash but faced a number of issues like closed down machines, long queues and transaction denials, after the Reserve Bank of India placed the bank under a moratorium and capped maximum withdrawals at ₹50,000 per account for as long as a month.

The RBI's action came after the Finance Ministry notified the stoppage of all actions against the banking company from 6 pm on Thursday to 3 April.

However, the RBI has told the Yes Bank account holders that there is no need to panic and it will protect their money. RBI in a statement soon after the finance ministry order said that they "assure depositors of the bank that their interest will be fully protected and there is no need to panic".

Depositors were unable to even access the internet banking channel, and hence could not transfer the funds online as well.

The shutters of an ATM in south Mumbai's Horniman Circle were pulled down, and the on-duty guard said that the machine was non-operational before he came to work in the evening. He was directed to shut it after 2200 hours. While one ATM in suburban Chembur was dispensing cash with a long queue of nervous depositors waiting, another ATM nearby stopped dispensing cash right after the RBI announcement.

On Friday too several people were seen queuing up outside Yes Bank Branches in Mumbai.

Hindustan Times said that according to a man, the ATM machine in Chembur would allow you to withdraw up to ₹50,000 in multiple transactions - a cap which is an aggregate amount across all bank accounts at Yes Bank - savings, deposits or current accounts.

Exceptions will be made only in a few cases by a "competent authority", in which the amounts cannot be more than ₹5 lakh or the amount of money that is in the accounts (whichever is less).

No loan or advance will be granted or renewed by Yes Bank. It also cannot make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

The bank will be able to pay salaries and housing rents to its over 20,000 employees.

In case one is paying their EMI from their Yes Bank account, they will need to immediately contact their receiving bank or housing company and ask for a one-month window. If they have a salary account with Yes Bank, they will need to figure out other funds.

Just hours before the regulatory actions, undertaken by the RBI and the government came, finance ministry sources had confirmed that SBI has been asked to bail out the troubled lender.

Yes Bank will be led by the RBI-appointed administrator Prashant Kumar, an ex-chief financial officer of SBI, for the next month.

The central bank said that the drastic move was taken because of a serious deterioration in Yes Bank's financial position. It assured that a revival plan would be swiftly worked on.

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