Published On : Fri, Nov 18th, 2016

Election Commission tells Finance Ministry not to use indelible ink in banks

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New Delhi: The Election Commission on Friday wrote to Finance Ministry asking them not to use the inedible ink since it may lead to problems in the states where elections have to be held in coming time.

It is notable that by-elections will be held in Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh on November 19. Meanwhile, assembly elections will take place in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab early next year.

Several reports claim that the ink is being applied on the right hand of customers to avoid confusion during elections when the ink will be put on left hand. Just yesterday, banks in metro cities started applying inedible ink on the index finger of the right hand.

The decision was taken by the government to ensure that black money holders will prohibit from using accounts of other people to exchange or deposit notes. From November 16, State Bank of India and select branches of Bank of India, Canara Bank and the RBI’s Delhi office started using the ink on fingers of people exchanging old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.

As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which was issued to the banks on Wednesday, the edible ink can be applied by the cashier or any other designated official of the bank before the notes are given to the customers.