RBI gets stricter, asks Netas to pay by cheque or digital for election expenses

If an insider’s report is to be believed, the RBI has turned down the Election Commission’s (EC) plea to relax weekly cash withdrawal limit for poll expenses. As Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa go for poll in February and March; the EC wanted to go lenient on the candidates and had asked for increase the withdrawal limit that is currently at Rs 24,000 per week.

However the RBI has rejected the request and asked the candidates to do transactions through cheque and digital procedures. The withdrawal cap has been effective since November 8 after the government demonetized Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

Each candidate contesting elections has a spending limit. For instance, those in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab can spend upto Rs 20 lakh, while candidates in Goa and Manipur can spend up to Rs 20 lakh for entire phase of campaign.