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All banks operating currency chests must report all transactions through the CyM-CC portal on the same day by 7 pm. The minimum amount for deposit or withdrawal is one lakh rupees, and subsequent amounts need to be in multiples of fifty thousand rupees. Delayed reporting, wrong reporting, and the inclusion of ineligible amounts in chest balances attract penal interest or flat penalties. The Reserve Bank of India levies a penal interest rate of two percent over the prevailing Bank Rate for delayed net withdrawal reporting, wrong reporting, and ineligible amounts. A flat penalty of fifty thousand rupees applies to wrong reporting of soiled note remittances as withdrawals, wrong reporting of diversions, and delayed reporting of net deposits. The Officer-in-Charge of the Regional Office Issue Department decides on irregularities and levies penalties.
What you must do
Who is affected
Thresholds
Exceptions
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Ask about this master direction
RBI/DCM/2025-26/130 DCM (CC) No.G-2/03.35.01/2025-26 April 01, 2025
The Chairman / Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer (All banks having Currency Chests)
Madam / Dear Sir,
Master Direction on Penal Provisions in reporting of transactions / balances at Currency Chests
In terms of the Preamble to and Section 45 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (RBI Act) and Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, Reserve Bank of India issues guidelines / instructions for realising the objectives of Clean Note Policy as part of currency management. With a view to sustain these efforts and to ensure timely and accurate reporting of currency chest transactions, instructions on the subject have been issued from time to time.
Yours faithfully,
(Sanjeev Prakash) Chief General Manager-In-Charge
Encl: As above
Annex
Master Direction on Penal Provisions in reporting of transactions / balances at Currency Chests
1.1 Reporting of Currency Chest (CC) Transactions The minimum amount of deposit into / withdrawal from currency chest shall be ₹1,00,000/- and thereafter, in multiples of ₹50,000/-.
1.2 Time Limit for Reporting
1.2.1 The currency chests shall invariably report all transactions through CyM-CC portal on the same day by 7 pm.
1.2.2 Opening of Currency Chests on Sundays or Holidays – Reporting in CyM In case CyM CC portal is available on the day a specific CC is permitted to operate (i.e. on a local holiday), the CC shall report the transactions in CyM on the same day. In case CyM-CC portal is not available on the said day (i.e. on a global holiday / 2nd or 4th Saturdays of the month / Sunday), the CC shall report denomination-wise consolidated deposit and/ or withdrawal amount and denomination-wise chest closing balance of the day by 7 pm to the concerned Issue Office of RBI by e-mail and report day’s transactions on CyM on the next working day.
1.2.3 Relaxation in Respect of Strike in Banks Relaxation in the reporting period on account of strike situation shall be considered on case-to-case basis.
2.1 Levy of Penal Interest
2.1.1 Delay in Reporting In the event of delay in reporting currency chest transactions, penal interest at the rate indicated in paragraph 4 of this circular shall be levied on the amount due from the chest holding bank for the period of delay. Penal interest shall be calculated on T+0 basis i.e. penal interest shall be levied in respect of transactions not reported by currency chests to the Issue Office on the same business day within the time limit prescribed above.
2.1.2 Wrong Reporting Penal interest shall be levied in respect of cases of wrong reporting in the same manner till the date of receipt of corrected advice by Reserve Bank. As debits / credits to banks' current accounts are raised on the basis of the transactions reported by the currency chests, penal interest shall invariably be levied in all cases of wrong reporting by the currency chests. It is expected that currency chests would ensure the correctness of figures reported on the CyM-CC portal. Particular care shall be taken to ensure that remittances of fresh / re-issuable notes sent to the currency chests from RBI / Note Printing Presses are not reported as 'deposit' transactions.
2.1.3 Inclusion of Ineligible Amounts in the Currency Chest Balances
2.1.4 Penal Measures for Other Deficiencies Penal measures for shortages in chest balances / remittances, shortages due to pilferage / frauds, counterfeit banknotes detected in chest balances / remittances shall be taken on the basis of the prevailing “Scheme of Penalties”.
3.1 Reporting of Soiled Note Remittances to RBI Soiled note remittances to RBI shall not be shown as withdrawal by chest(s). In case such remittances to RBI are wrongly reported as 'withdrawals', a penalty of ₹50,000/- shall be levied irrespective of the value of remittance and period of such wrong reporting.
3.2 Reporting of Diversions in CyM-CC Portal All currency chest diversions (both between chests of the same bank and between chests of different banks) have to be reported through ‘Diversion Module’ of CyM-CC Portal. The CC sending the diversion should initiate the entry. The receiving CC should acknowledge the same. Diversions should not be reported as deposit / withdrawal. A penalty of ₹50,000/- shall be levied for any such wrong reporting.
3.3 Delayed reporting where currency chests had “Net Deposit” Penal interest at the prevailing rate for delayed reporting of the instances where the currency chest had reported “net deposit” shall not be charged. However, in order to ensure proper discipline in reporting currency chest transactions, a flat penalty of ₹50,000/- shall be levied on the currency chests for delayed reporting, irrespective of the value of net deposit.
Rate of Penal Interest Penal interest shall be levied at the rate of 2% over the prevailing Bank Rate for the period of delayed reporting for net withdrawal / wrong reporting / inclusion of ineligible amounts in chest balances.
Business Continuity Plan The CyM-CC portal has the capability for switching / interchanging the user within a bank across the country (user manual is attached for ready reference) for transaction reporting and raising other requests. If a CC is unable to access CyM Portal due to connectivity or other technical issues in that particular CC, the Back Office (BO) Administrator of the bank can map the user-id of another CC of that bank to the CC having connectivity issues for making transactions. On completion of the transactions the user rights shall be restored to the original CC. This functionality would help CCs in avoiding delayed reporting and consequent punitive action. Proper record of such authorisations shall be maintained for audit purposes. CC holding banks are advised to include this aspect in their CC Business Continuity Plan (BCP).
Operational Guidelines on Levy of Penalties / Penal Interest
6.1 Competent Authority The Competent Authority to decide on the nature of irregularity and levy penal interest/ penalty thereof shall be the Officer-in-Charge of the Issue Department of the Regional Office under whose jurisdiction the defaulting currency chest is located.
