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Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Doha Bank has sought permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to allow the bank to deposit the scrapped Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes for its customers in Qatar and other GCC countries so that they don't have to travel to India to do the same, the bank's chief executive officer has said.
Doha Bank, which is the only Qatari bank currently operating in India through its branches in Mumbai and Kochi, has almost 60,000 non-resident external (NRE) account holders in Qatar.
Doha Bank Group CEO R Seetharaman told Qatar Tribune that once the permission is granted"all our NRE customers will be able to deposit the scrapped Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes within permissible limits and time at some of the designated Doha Bank branches in Qatar provided they also open NRO account with the bank".
As per the clarification issued by the RBI, the recourse for a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) is to deposit the specified bank notes to their NRO accounts by December 30.
"We have approached the RBI in the larger interest of our NRI customers in Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait. Many of them have requested for this facility," Seetharaman said.
Providing more details, Doha Bank Business Development Head Ganesan Ramkrishnan said,"We have sent a proposal to the RBI in this connection. Our country head for India is in regular touch with the RBI officials. A high-level Doha Bank delegation will visit Indian soon to meet RBI officials."
The RBI has given positive feedbacks on Doha Bank's proposal, Ramkrishnan said, adding that Doha Bank is working on to identify some of its branches in Qatar where the old Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes will be accepted from the NRIs.
"Currently, most of our NRI customers hold only NRE accounts with us. So they will have to open NRO account first to avail of this facility. It won't take much time for an existing NRE account holder to open NRO account with the bank," he said.
NRIs, who have not opened accounts with Doha Bank, can avail of this service by opening NRO account with the bank within the deadline.
"For new customers, we will expedite the process of opening these accounts with us," Ramkrishnan said.
Asked about Doha Bank's proposal to the RBI, Indian Ambassador to Qatar HE P Kumaran said,"It's a good move. The embassy is also in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs in India to seek clarification on this issue. We are hopeful that some mechanism to address this issue will evolve soon."
Doha
Doha Bank has sought permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to allow the bank to deposit the scrapped Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes for its customers in Qatar and other GCC countries so that they don't have to travel to India to do the same, the bank's chief executive officer has said.
Doha Bank, which is the only Qatari bank currently operating in India through its branches in Mumbai and Kochi, has almost 60,000 non-resident external (NRE) account holders in Qatar.
Doha Bank Group CEO R Seetharaman told Qatar Tribune that once the permission is granted"all our NRE customers will be able to deposit the scrapped Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes within permissible limits and time at some of the designated Doha Bank branches in Qatar provided they also open NRO account with the bank".
As per the clarification issued by the RBI, the recourse for a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) is to deposit the specified bank notes to their NRO accounts by December 30.
"We have approached the RBI in the larger interest of our NRI customers in Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait. Many of them have requested for this facility," Seetharaman said.
Providing more details, Doha Bank Business Development Head Ganesan Ramkrishnan said,"We have sent a proposal to the RBI in this connection. Our country head for India is in regular touch with the RBI officials. A high-level Doha Bank delegation will visit Indian soon to meet RBI officials."
The RBI has given positive feedbacks on Doha Bank's proposal, Ramkrishnan said, adding that Doha Bank is working on to identify some of its branches in Qatar where the old Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes will be accepted from the NRIs.
"Currently, most of our NRI customers hold only NRE accounts with us. So they will have to open NRO account first to avail of this facility. It won't take much time for an existing NRE account holder to open NRO account with the bank," he said.
NRIs, who have not opened accounts with Doha Bank, can avail of this service by opening NRO account with the bank within the deadline.
"For new customers, we will expedite the process of opening these accounts with us," Ramkrishnan said.
Asked about Doha Bank's proposal to the RBI, Indian Ambassador to Qatar HE P Kumaran said,"It's a good move. The embassy is also in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs in India to seek clarification on this issue. We are hopeful that some mechanism to address this issue will evolve soon."
