Master Circular - Levy of Penal Interest for Delayed Reporting/Wrong Reporting/Non-Reporting of Currency Chest Transactions and Cases involving Shortages/Inclusion of Counterfeit Banknotes in Chest Balances/Chest remittances - ആർബിഐ - Reserve Bank of India
Master Circular - Levy of Penal Interest for Delayed Reporting/Wrong Reporting/Non-Reporting of Currency Chest Transactions and Cases involving Shortages/Inclusion of Counterfeit Banknotes in Chest Balances/Chest remittances
RBI/2008-09/90 July 01, 2008 1. The Chairman& Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer 2. Director of Treasuries Dear Sir/Madam Master Circular – Levy of Penal Interest for Delayed Reporting/Wrong Reporting/Non-Reporting of Currency Chest Transactions and Cases involving Shortages/Inclusion of Counterfeit Banknotes in Chest Balances/Chest remittances In supersession of all existing instructions/guidelines relating to levy of penal interest for delayed reporting/wrong reporting/non-reporting of currency chest transactions and cases of shortages/inclusion of counterfeit banknotes in the chest balances/chest remittances, the following fresh instructions/guidelines are issued:
a) The minimum amount of deposit into/withdrawal from currency chest will Rs.1,00,000 and thereafter, in multiples of Rs.50,000/- b) Time limit for reporting The currency chests should invariably report all transactions to their Link Offices on the same day and the Link Offices in turn should report the consolidated position to the Issue Offices positively on the next working day . However, in Issue circules where reporting of chest transactions through ICCOMS has been operationalised, chest transactions should invariably be reported on the same day by uploading over the Secured Website (SWS) latest by 11 PM. 2. The Sub-Treasury Offices should report all transactions direct to the Issue Office of the Reserve Bank on the same day. c) Relaxation in respect of strike period in banks Relaxation in the reporting period on account of general/specific strike situation will be considered. Further, as normal internal work is carried out on holidays observed for half-yearly/annual closing by banks, these days should be treated as working days for the purpose of reckoning the permissible reporting period. d) Levy of penal interest for delays
In the Issue circles where reporting is through ICCOMS, penal interest will be calculated on T+0 basis i.e. penal interest will be levied in respect of transactions not reported by Link Office to the Issue Office by 11 PM on the same business day. However, till the new system stabilizes, the Bank may at its discretion grant appropriate grace period in the matter of levy of penal interest. e) In case of persistent/continued delays/discrepancies in reporting, our Regional Offices will take up the matter with controlling offices of the bank concerned after issuing suitable warnings to the currency chests. g) Counterfeit banknotes in remittances received from currency chests h) Reissuable banknotes in remittances received from currency chests i) Minimum penal interest to be charged
and inclusion of amounts of safe custody deposits in chest balances Penal interest will be levied in all cases where the bank has enjoyed 'ineligible' credit in its current account with RBI on account of discrepancies in chest balances/reporting of transactions (wrong/delayed/non-reporting, shortages in chest balances/remittances, counterfeit banknotes detected in chest balances/remittances). Further, only cash held in the custody of joint custodians and 'freely available' to them is eligible for inclusion in the chest balances. Thus, cash kept for safe custody in sealed covers for whatever reasons/cash in trunks/bins under the lock and key of any official/s other than the Joint Custodians or bearing a third lock put by any official in addition to the two locks of the Joint Custodians is not eligible for being included in the chest balances. Such amounts, if included in chest balances will attract penal interest. In all the above cases, penal interest will be leviable from the date of inclusion of 'ineligible' amounts in chest balances/date of occurrence of shortage (if identifiable) till the exclusion of such amounts from chest balances. Otherwise, penal interest will be levied from the date of last remittance (in case of discrepancies detected in remittances)/last verification of cash balances by RBI/bank's own/Government inspectors (in case of discrepancies in chest balances). i. Rate of penal interest The penal interest shall be levied at the rate of 2% over the prevailing Bank Rate for the period of irregularity. 4. Levy of penal interest in respect of currency chests at treasuries The above instructions shall be applicable to currency chests at treasury/sub-treasury offices also. 5. Representations As the sole criterion for levy of penal interest for delayed reporting is the number of days of delay, there should ordinarily be no occasion for banks to request for reconsideration of the Bank's decision in individual cases. However, representations, if any, on account of genuine difficulties faced by chests especially in hilly/remote areas and other chests affected by natural calamities, etc., should be made only to the Issue Office concerned. In the case of wrong reporting representations for waiver will not be considered. {cf. para 1(f) above}. As the intention behind the levy of penal interest is to inculcate discipline among banks so as to ensure prompt/correct reporting, pleas by banks such as non-utilization of the Bank's funds, no shortfall in the maintenance of CRR/SLR, clerical mistake, unintentional or arithmetical error, first time error, inexperience of staff etc., will not be considered as valid grounds for waiver of penal interest. As debits/credits to banks' current accounts are raised on the basis of the figures reported in the Link Office Statements, penal interest will be invariably levied in all cases of reporting correctly in the chest slips but wrongly in the Link Office Statements. This Master Circular is available on our website www.rbi.org.in. Yours faithfully (U.S. Paliwal) Endt.DCM(CC) No.G- /03.35.01/2008-09 of date Copy forwarded for information to – 1) The Regional Director/Chief General Manager/Officer-in-Charge, Reserve Bank of India, Issue Department, Ahmedabad / Bangalore / Belapur (Navi Mumbai) /Bhopal /Bhubaneswar/ Chandigarh / Chennai /Guwahati / Hyderabad / Jaipur / Jammu / Kanpur / Kolkata / Lucknow / Mumbai / Nagpur /New Delhi / Patna / Thiruvananthapuram. i) The Regional Director/Chief General Manager will have full powers to grant relaxation in the reporting period/waive penal interest on being satisfied about genuine difficulties faced by currency chests especially in hilly/remote areas or on account of disturbed conditions/disruption in communication facilities, natural calamities etc. ii) The Regional Offices should ensure that figures reported by chests/Link Offices are booked correctly and in time. In case penal interest recovery is necessitated due to lapses on the part of the Bank's staff, accountability should be fixed for such lapses without fail. 2) The Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India, Inspection Department, Central Office, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandra (East), Mumbai-400 051. 3. The Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India, Department of Government & Bank Accounts, Central Office, Mumbai Central P.O., Byculla, Mumbai-400 008. (Pradeep Garg) Assistant General Manager |