Several currency notes were found scattered in front of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) office in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.
As per reports, to the utter dismay of people, some customers were seen throwing currency notes of Rs 100, Rs 200 and Rs 500 denominations in front of the RBI. Later, it was revealed that the irate customers threw those torn notes to express their dissatisfaction after failing to exchange them.
The customers had brought those currency notes to exchange them in the RBI office. However, they threw those notes out of frustration after the authorities of the bank refused to exchange those notes.
Tension gripped the area following the incident. Upon being informed, Kharvelnagar police reached the spot immediately and pacified the irate customers.
Following the incident, a question mark has been raised as to why the RBI authorities didn’t exchange the currency notes when there are rules in place in this regard.
“As per the rule, RBI should have exchanged the torn notes. However, the authorities of the bank are telling the customers to go to the State Bank of India and other local banks to exchange the notes. Meanwhile, those banks are refusing to exchange those notes and in turn, saying that only RBI could exchange them. As a result, the customers are suffering,” said Dinesh Kumar Sahu a local resident.
“They have closed the counter since October 3 and are not allowing us into the bank. There are no circulars to stop exchanging the torn notes. But in Odisha the regional director of RBI has made this procedure,” alleged Sahu.
However, no reactions from RBI authorities could be obtained in this regard.