Troubled lender Yes Bank on Wednesday resumed its services as the moratorium imposed on it by the Reserve Bank of India ended at 6 pm after 13 days.
The central bank had on March 5 taken control of Yes Bank, after the lender – which is laden with bad debts – failed to raise the capital it needs to stay above mandated regulatory requirements. Placing Yes Bank under a 30-day moratorium, the central bank had imposed a limit of Rs 50,000 on withdrawals to protect depositors.
“Our banking services are now operational,” Yes Bank tweeted. “You can now experience the full suite of our services. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.”
The moratorium restricting the withdrawal limit has also been lifted.
The crisis-ridden private lender also extended its banking time for three days from Thursday. “To serve you better, our branches will open one hour earlier at 08.30 hours from March 19 to 21, 2020,” the bank said in another tweet. “We have also extended banking hours across branches for our senior citizen customers, from March 19 to March 27, 2020, 16.30 hours to 17.30 hours.”
However, some customers complained that they were not able to access certain services, including internet and mobile banking. The bank apologised for the inconvenience and said it was “facing intermittent issues”.
Yes Bank Chief Executive Officer Prashant Kumar had on Tuesday said the lender has taken adequate steps to ensure availability of funds for customers. “All our ATMs are full with cash,” he had said. “All our branches have adequate supply of cash. So, from the Yes Bank side, there is absolutely no issue on the liquidity front.”
The central bank had on Monday said that the bank’s resolution framework was underway as planned. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had also assured of additional liquidity if needed.
Authorities have opened investigations into Yes Bank’s lending practices that led to its failure. Its founder Rana Kapoor has been detained and a case of money laundering was registered against him. On Monday, Kapoor’s custody with the Enforcement Directorate was extended till March 20. Kapoor and his family members are accused of laundering proceeds of crime worth Rs 4,300 crore by allegedly receiving kickbacks for extending big loans through Yes Bank, which later turned non-performing.
Under the Yes Bank reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India and seven financial institutions, including private sector lenders, have infused around Rs 10,000 crore in the bank.
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