Life halts, queues for cash grow longer

While the law seems to have come to the rescue of black money hoarders, who are taking refuge in Section 270 of the IT Act, citizens are still waiting in line to exchange old notes and are now being marked with indelible ink much to their irritation! The ripple effect of demonetisation has brought the transport industry to a standstill, even though the government has exempted them from paying tolls till Nov. 18 to ease the burden. The chaos continues, Team DC reports

Not willing to accept defeat by the demonetisation of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, most black money hoarders are now planning to take refuge under section 270A of the Income tax Act to safeguard their money and escape action .

According to sources, if unaccounted cash is deposited in banks and the appropriate tax (33% including surcharge) is paid on this additional income, no penalty for under reporting or misreporting can be imposed by the assessing or revenue officer under section 270A of the I-T Act.

Some city chartered accountants have been advising their clients to take advantage of the section and declare the amassed money as income for the year 2017-18 and pay the 33% tax as it allows taxpayers to declare their income without  revealing its source.

But warning that there could be scope for litigation and other interpretations, a city chartered account says that as the amendment is new and there is no precedence, it is difficult to say whether the officer will win or the assessee in such cases. “Even if the revenue officers issue notices and ask questions, the assessee should be in a position to provide a satisfactory answer to avoid further action from the IT department,” explained another CA.

Meanwhile in several places, activists of different parties including BJP, Congress and APP and various non governmental organizations found helping the people to fill the deposit forms. In several places, local social activists even offered water and snacks for all those who were standing in queue for several hours.

Mysuru co works overtime to produce indelible ink
Thanks to the decision of the government to mark bank customers with indelible ink, the state -run Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd, established in 1937 by the then Mysuru maharaja,  Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar is in demand.  

Since Tuesday it has despatched 30,000 phials of 5 ml each of the ink to the Reserve Bank of India and is working to supply it another 1,70,000 of them. “We have orders for two lakh phials from RBI,”  explained to Mr.K.A. Ashwath Appanna, a sales and marketing officer of the company.

The off season demand for the ink has  all the staff of the company working round- the- clock. “We will be able to meet the RBI’s requirements in the next four to five days,” Mr Appanna added.

According to bank officials, around 700 customers can be inked from a bottle of indelible ink. The move is intended to stop the same customers from making multiple visits to banks for exchange of notes or to deposit cash.

Contrary to the claims of Prime Minister Narendra Modi  and finance ministry officials, it will take at least two months to restore normalcy in the city’s banking sector, according to  several bank executives. “As all the staff are being utilised for exchanging the old notes for new there is abnormal delay in providing other services,” said one bank manager. The postal department is meanwhile  investigating  allegations that some politicians are depositing huge amounts of cash in city post offices by using the identity cards of their voters.

While BJP, Congress and AAP workers and activists of various NGOs were seen helping  people  fill their deposit forms in several places, social activists offered water and snacks to those  standing in queues outside banks for several hours.

Queues at banks even longer!
There were longer than usual queues outside banks in the city till late evening Wednesday as it was expected that Thursday will be a holiday on account of Kanakadasa Jayanti. However, the government has exempted bank from this government holiday. Many were left disappointed as like Tuesday, most city ATMs were unfilled till evening and the new '500 notes were not available at any of the banks either.

For people waiting in long queues the process of applying indelible ink on their fingers only worsened matters. Those standing in queues for  exchanging the old notes for the new or depositing cash complained the average wait was two hours. “ I have applied for leave for the second consecutive day to stand in a queue. This whole exercise may be good for the national economy, but it is poorly planned and  is creating a lot of hardship for the general public,” said Mr. Ravi Hebbar, a techie, adding, “It is impossible to live with just debit and credit cards. We can’t give money to the barber or milkman through cards. Even the house rent needs to be paid with cash.”

‘BJP partymen knew about demonetisation in advance’
AICC spokesperson Brijesh Kalappa has alleged that BJP partymen knew about demonetization in advance and had taken measures to ensure that their monies were safe.  Some of their close confidants were also informed. Large amounts of Rs 100 currency notes were being made available to some, who were exchanging Rs 500 and Rs 1000, for large profits, he said.

Kalappa said, “Adani or Ambani are not in the queues at banks. Is black money in the hands of labourers and women who are on the queues before banks? The graph of deposits of money, have multiplied four to five times in certain banks, including SBI and Punjab National Bank, between July to September this year. While BJP is non existent in Bengal, that unit of BJP had deposited Rs 3 crore just before banking hours on November 8. So if BJP workers are informed about the step, is Mr Modi PM only for BJP?

In 2011, he recalled, when Mr Modi was Gujarat CM he had tweeted that “Even a child in India knows the black money is in foreign banks. In 2013, as a Prime Ministerial aspirant he said that $18 trillion of black money is in financial institutions, in banks outside the country. “

• Access to money proved even harder on Wednesday, with most banks across the city still plunged in chaos. Banks have also resorted to applying indelible ink on their customers, much to their ire as they wonder why this apparent hostility is necessary when they are exchanging their own money.
• ATMs opened in the morning but ran out of cash in the first half of the day.  Bank officials have claimed that they will take about two months to return to normalcy. With the staff being utilised for demonetisation, other financial services have been put on the backburner for the moment.
• The transport industry has taken a massive hit during demonetisation. The government has attempted to ease the burden by extending the deadline for presenting old notes from Nov. 15 to 24. Toll booths have been told not to collect toll on national highways till the midnight of  Nov. 18.