KATHMANDU, May 25: Banks in Kathmandu can open only three branches from today.
The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken a stricter policy to help control the second wave of COVID transmission. The central bank on Monday issued a notice stating that class ‘A’ banks can open only three branches in Kathmandu. Similarly, the banks will be allowed to open two branches in Lalitpur and one in Bhaktapur during the prohibitory orders.
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The Banks and Financial Institutions Regulation Department at NRB has instructed the banks to provide its services with health safety protocols in place . As per the arrangement to be implemented from Tuesday, Class ‘B’ development banks will be allowed to open two branches in Kathmandu, and one each in Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. Class ‘C’ finance companies will be allowed to open only one branch in each of the three districts.
Only 25 percent of bank branches were in operation since the government imposed prohibitory orders. NRB officials said that the decision to not take a deposit of less than Rs 50,000 to control the crowd at the bank did not prove to be effective, and left many employees of the banks infected with COVID-19.
In addition, the banks and financial institutions should publish the information of the contact person of the closed branch for urgent service and the information of the alternative branch and the time of opening of the branch where the service can be obtained through the website on a daily basis. The BFIs have been urging their customers to go for digital transactions.
