Yes Bank to resume banking services from March 18 evening as govt notifies reconstruction plan

New Delhi: The crisis-hit Yes Bank on Monday (March 16) took to Twitter saying that customers will be able to access full banking services from Wednesday evening at 6 pm, as the moratorium will be lifted.

In a tweet, Yes Bank said, “We will resume full banking services from Wed, March 18, 2020, 18:00 hrs. Visit any of our 1,132 branches from Mar 19, 2020, post commencement of banking hrs to experience our suite of services. You will also be able to access all our digital services & platforms @RBI @FinMinIndia.”

Earlier on Saturday, the government had notified that the reconstruction plan for cash-strapped lender stating the moratorium will be lifted by 18:00 hrs on March 18, much earlier than the earlier date of April 3.

The notification said, “The order of moratorium on the reconstructed bank issued by the government…Shall cease to have effect on the third working day at 18:00 hours from the date of commencement of this scheme.”

The RBI had on March 5 put a moratorium on Yes Bank restricting withdrawals to Rs 50,000 per depositor till April 3. However, the government in a notification on Saturday said the moratorium will be lifted by 18:00 hrs on March 18.

The lender has posted a net loss of Rs 18,654 crore for the third quarter ended December 31 due to huge provisioning for bad loans.

It had posted a profit of Rs 1,001.8 crore during the December quarter of 2018-19. “You will be able to use your YES BANK cards and accounts across wallets like Paytm, Amazon Pay and Freecharge among others from March 18, 2020, 18:00 hours,” the bank said in an FAQ on its website. Besides, the customers have been allowed for inward RTGS/NEFT/IMPS based transaction services to pay for their Yes Bank credit card bills and loan EMIs from any bank accounts including Yes Bank accounts.”

“Outward NEFT/IMPS/RTGS will resume from March 18, 2020, 18:00 hours. The limits for transactions across digital channels will continue to remain what they were prior to the imposition of the moratorium. However, from March 19, 2020 post commencement of banking hours, transactions at branches will not have any limits,” it added.

Among others, customers will be able to pay towards their utility bills and use the UPI platform, Google Pay and PhonePe, Paytm, Amazon Pay, Freecharge.

“You can withdraw your Yes Bank FDs (fixed deposits) and RDs (recurring deposits) after the moratorium is revoked from March 18, 2020, 18:00 hours. Standard charges will apply on the same. You will be also able to access all services available through digital channel/platforms (Net Banking/ Mobile Banking etc),” it added.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das today assured that crippled Yes Bank has enough funds to meet any requirements and promised that the central bank will step in with additional liquidity support if needed.

RBI governor told media, “I would like to mention that Yes Bank has enough liquidity to meet any requirement. If there is a requirement, the RBI will provide necessary liquidity support” while announcing that after 6 pm on March 18, depositors can take their money out without any restrictions.

Terming Yes Bank’s restructuring scheme as credible and sustainable, Das said it is the first instance of public-private partnership for a revival of a private sector bank.

Notably, Yes Bank’s deposit base eroded by Rs 72,000 crore to Rs 1.37 lakh crore as of March 5, 2020, as against Rs 2.09 lakh crore as of December 31, 2019, according to data shared by the bank last Friday while announcing the Q3 earnings.

Under the reconstruction scheme, which the RBI governor said is progressing as planned, the private lender has received over Rs 10,000 crore from eight financial institutions, including Rs 6,050 crore from SBI.

Meanwhile, HDFC will pick up 7.97 per cent stake in Yes Bank for a Rs 1,000 crore capital infusion in the cash-strapped lender.

On March 14, Yes Bank allotted 100 crore shares of face value of Rs 2 each to the Corporation aggregating to 7.97 per cent of the post issue equity share capital of Yes bank, HDFC said in a regulatory filing on Monday.

The allotment of shares comes “after giving effect to the allotment of shares to State Bank of India, the Corporation, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Federal Bank, Bandhan Bank and IDFC First Bank ,” it said.

ICICI Bank and HDFC (Rs 1,000 crore each) Axis Bank (Rs 600 crore), Kotak Mahindra Bank (Rs 500 crore), Bandhan Bank, Federal Bank (Rs 300 crore each) and IDFC First (Rs 250 crore) also joined the SBI-led consortium and invested in Yes Bank.