Cash crunch: I-T department begins raid
Cash crunch: I-T department begins raid on hoarders, RBI pump in notes Amid reports of a cash crunch in states, tax authorities have conducted raids to trace out hoarders. About 30 to 35 raids were conducted in Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh, as per reports. RBI and the government are making efforts to stuff in more cash into states facing currency crunch. While in Bihar, Rs 800-900 crore has been pumped in through the ATM network with initial assessments suggesting that the shortage may be tackled soon. In Andhra and Telangana, where the situation is more acute, the role of large contractors is under the I-T department’s lens. "In some of the cases, the withdrawals are not justified and they do not tally with the income or spending patterns. We believe that cash is only being held with no actual spending planned in several cases,” said sources. Tax authorities are also examining if some of the hoarding is related to the elections in Karnataka or even for polls in Andhra and Telangana next year, amid speculation that elections may be advanced. The government suspects that Rs 2,000-denomination notes are being hoarded by those dealing in black money, resulting in cash shortage at ATMs in several states, including Gujarat, MP, Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka. Executives with ATM operation companies said that they were focusing on refilling the cash dispensers with Rs 200 and Rs 500 notes, but cassettes for the smaller denomination currency notes had not been fitted in all machines so far. Smaller denomination notes, however, meant that replenishments needed to be quicker. Public sector banks have been asked to ensure that above 80 per cent of ATMs start dispensing cash within a day and step up supply in all branches, said the report. -PTC News
