Yes Bank: 'Customers' deposits absolutely safe'

The ATMs are fully up now and customers can withdraw up to Rs 50,000 from Yes Bank as well as from other banks' ATMs.

Yes Bank along with SBI is in discussions with a large number of investors to raise capital, RBI-appointed administrator Prashant Kumar has said while assuring bank customers that their deposits are "absolutely safe".

Kumar in an email to bank customers has said that the bank is closely working with the government and the RBI towards resuming full banking services at the earliest, well before the communicated date of April 3.

The cash-starved private sector lender has come under the direct oversight of the Reserve Bank with the supersession of its board last Thursday and a moratorium has been placed till April 3, during which customers are now allowed to withdraw up to Rs 50,000.

"With respect to capital raising, along with the State Bank of India, we are in discussions with a large number of investors and are hopeful that in the next few days, there will be complete clarity in this regard," Kumar updated bank customers in an email sent Tuesday night.

"Please be assured that our customers are our topmost priority and once again, I would like to re-iterate that your deposits are absolutely safe with the Bank," said the mail by Prashant Kumar - administrator, Yes Bank (appointed by the Reserve Bank of India).

Addressing the customers he said: "I understand that you are facing inconvenience owing to the unavailability of certain banking services by YES Bank.

"I assure you that this is temporary, and we are working closely with the government and the RBI towards resuming full banking services at the earliest, well before the communicated date of April 3, 2020," Kumar said.

Meanwhile, the bank has allowed customers to pay towards their Yes Bank credit card bill and loan EMIs through IMPS, NEFT and RTGS modes.

Also, the ATMs are fully up now and customers can withdraw up to Rs 50,000 from Yes Bank as well as from other banks' ATMs.

"On Saturday, withdrawals from our branches and ATMs as well as other bank ATMs, using YES Bank debit card were enabled. In addition, inward IMPS and NEFT services have also been enabled to ensure that customers can make payments towards YES Bank credit card dues and loan obligations from other bank accounts," read the Kumar mail.

Yes Bank customers on Wednesday were also allowed to make such payments through RTGS.

The bank will also announce its third quarter results on March 14, 2020.

The bank for the first time has delayed its results announcement, about which it had informed before the RBI action.

"With respect to capital raising, along with the State Bank of India, we are in discussions with a large number of investors and are hopeful that in the next few days, there will be complete clarity in this regard," Kumar told customers.

During the moratorium period, Yes Bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

As per the RBI's draft reconstruction scheme, State Bank of India will pick up 49 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan by infusing capital of Rs 2,450 crore.

The bank's financial health is not sound and it has failed to raise enough capital under the new leadership of Ravneet Singh Gill, who took charge as the managing director and CEO from March 1, 2019.

Troubles at new-generation private sector started brewing up ever since the Reserve Bank denied extension to its co-founder Rana Kapoor -- who now is in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate on charges of financial mismanagement and money-laundering -- to continue as MD and CEO in September 2018, and had asked the lender to find a new successor.

Yes Bank's administrator, Kumar, a former SBI executive, had on Monday also assured customers that the moratorium period could end by this weekend.

• Yes Bank In Trouble

Photograph: PTI Photo