Yes Bank

‘RBI Failed As A Regulator In The Yes Bank Fiasco’

Abhishek Bharadwaj, a 28-year-old Chartered Accountant, says RBI may appear to be a saviour of Yes Bank but the debacle primarily happened under its watch

I work as a Chartered Accountant and I have been taught that it is always better to spread your finances/investments rather than keep all the eggs in one basket. I opened a bank account in Yes Bank only last year after a friend’s recommendation. However, being aware of the financial trends in the country I didn’t close down my accounts in other banks.

Now, even though the crisis is over, thank to RBI intervention, I have to admit that I had sleepless nights when I, around a fortnight ago, the news broke that RBI had imposed a moratorium on Yes Bank. We were anxious as we felt that it would extend for long. Mercifully, it was removed on March 18.

ALSO READ: ‘I Am Thankful To RBI And Govt’

Being an accounts professional, I promptly changed accounts to make payments as soon as I realised that the UPI (Unified Payment Interface) was creating problems. But I wonder about the others who were not so fortunate and were stuck with just one bank account. What if someone had an emergency in their homes? Back then, nobody knew when the matter would be sorted.

The RBI has strict guidelines and policies in place when it comes to the safety of the depositors’ money. However, the execution of these policies is getting lax with each passing day. More and more banks (and their owners) think they can get away with financial irregularities. So far (at least as far back as I can remember) it hasn’t happened that a bank went bankrupt. Banks facing losses and NPA (non-performing assets) are either merged or taken over, and the money of at least small investors is kept safe.

ALSO READ: Yes Bank Debacle & Crony Capitalism

It is commendable that the RBI directed many banks to help in the resuscitation of Yes Bank. Still I wonder what the authorities were doing since last year when rumours first started floating about Yes Bank. It is a failure on part of both the RBI as well as the government. Such things don’t happen in a day.

Back in 2016 when demonetisation had taken place, it was clear that banking decisions were not taken keeping all aspects in mind. I wasn’t in favour of it back then. Similarly, I feel even now it is the ordinary people who suffer (or at least start panicking) when it comes to decisions related to the banking sector. Every one might have a bank account these days, but not everyone is financially literate, so government should take care to soothe people in times of crisis.

Satabdi Gantait

‘I Am Thankful To RBI, Govt For Revival Of Yes Bank Ops’

Satabdi Gantait had her salary account and Fixed Deposit in Yes Bank. She recounts the initial panic and the relief after the bank resumed normal operations

I can’t tell you how relieved I am after knowing that Yes Bank is operational again, thanks to timely intervention by the RBI and Centre government. I have my salary account in Yes Bank and when the news of Yes Bank collapse came, about a fortnight ago, many of us didn’t know what to do. I also had Fixed Deposits (FD) in the bank so I was doubly worried as to what fate my savings has in store.

Given that it was the beginning of the month, I was supposed to make payments to several people as well. It was chaos. Thankfully, I had another account in a different bank but it is horrifying to think about those who had all their savings in Yes Bank.

ALSO READ: Yes Bank Debacle And Crony Capitalism

I myself had been following news about the economy and various banks on and off, but in these times when there is so much of information flowing in all the time, one doesn’t know whom to trust and whom not to. Also, many a times one isn’t completely aware of what a particular step from the government means. We are dependent on news channels to decode information for us.

Following the news of Yes Bank collapse, the UPI (an online payment interface) on my phone stopped functioning. I teach interior designing to students in Kolkata and fashion is an industry where large amount of money exchanges take place. So undoubtedly there was panic in our group.

Thankfully, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman came out and assured ordinary people depositors that their money was safe. That people didn’t need to panic and that the government was doing all it can to rectify the situation as quickly as possible. This was reassuring but we kept our fingers crossed. I wonder why we need to reach a situation like the Yes Bank one in the first place that ordinary people begin to panic!

ALSO READ: Centre Clears Plan To Salvage Yes Bank

I suffered during demonetisation as well and for a moment (at the beginning of the crisis around 15 days ago) I thought 2016 was going to play itself out once again in 2020.

I run an interior design firm and had to make and receive large amount of money. Both depositing and withdrawing money had become extremely difficult back then. Thankfully this time things are different.  I hope no more banks reach such a state, so that ordinary people don’t worry whether they will be able to withdraw and use their own hard-earned money.