Will Yes Bank Depositors Get Their Money Back?

On Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India took control over Yes Bank and capped the withdrawal limit from the bank to Rs 50,000 until April 3. The moratorium will be in place till a takeover or capital infusion at the bank happens.

Desperate account holders trying to withdraw at least the set limit of Rs 50,000 could not do so. Yes Bank ATM machines were not working as the servers were down. Ditto for NEFT transfers.

Once the country's fourth largest private sector bank, the bank has mounting NPAs and has even delayed its financial results.

What happens to Yes Bank depositors money?

At the moment, even the Rs 50,000 cannot be withdrawn due to issues. In the case of PMC Bank, which went bust, a gradual enhancement of limits was applied and in all probability there might be a gradual increase in limit for saving and deposit holders to withdraw. In the case of PMC Bank deposit holders panicked and there were frequent morchas.

It's important to note that soon after the Budget announcement, insurance cover on bank deposits has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh effective. This means your FDs to the tune of Rs 5 lakhs are protected.

The cover is provided by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI.

In any case, learning from the past experience, the country's central bank has asked deposit holders not to panic.

"The RBI assures the depositors of the bank that their interest will be fully protected and there is no need to panic," it said.

"In terms of the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, the Reserve Bank will explore and draw up a scheme in the next few days for the bank's reconstruction or amalgamation and with the approval of the Central Government, put the same in place well before the period of moratorium of 39 days ends so that the depositors are not put to hardship for a long period."

Already, depositors are struggling to withdraw the amount of Rs 50,000. Nobody knows what can happen next. Those who have large deposits at the bank are likely to face hardships, and the process could be pretty much prolonged. The regulators will have to frequently brief the media on developments at the bank as Yes Bank has mammoth size of deposits.

For the time being, for deposit holders, it's just wait and watch.

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