Members of the India Under-19s team, who are currently playing at home against England Under-19s, have not received their daily allowance for nearly two weeks now. In response, the committee of administrators, appointed by the Supreme Court to oversee the running of the BCCI, has said the problem is largely a consequence of demonetisation in the country and that it will be resolved soon.
According to a report in the Indian Express, the players were not paid their entitled daily allowance of INR 6800 [the figure couldn’t be independently ascertained]. The support staff, including coach Rahul Dravid, too, have not received any payment as allowances.
“It is not intentional, that is due to demonetisation,” a member of the committee of administrators told ESPNcricinfo. “Normally daily allowances are paid by cash, but because there were limits we could not withdraw so much cash. Even now the English boys are being paid by the ECB.”
The weekly cash-withdrawal limit from savings bank accounts from ATMS or banks is currently INR 24,000. The member believed that with the withdrawal limit increased to INR 50,000 from February 20, and the subsequent removal of such restrictions from March 13, there would be greater cash-flow.
There were multiple reports of players facing a cash crunch during the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy season as well, and some teams tried to work around the problem by crediting the allowance to the players’ accounts. In this case, according to the member, funds couldn’t be transferred online as some players do not have bank accounts.
“The senior team players are getting debit cards, which are topped up with the allowances they are supposed to receive,” the member said. “But, these are Under-18 boys, so the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) doesn’t allow you to give debit cards. Some of them don’t have bank accounts also.”
The member said the issue of payment of allowances was communicated to the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, who responded by saying that Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s general manager (administration and game development), and chief financial officer Santosh Rangnekar would look into the matter.
“We are getting the players to open bank accounts. Now, something new has come up with the Yes Bank, who is the official banker,” the member said. “They have debit cards for Under-18 boys, which isn’t subject to restrictions from the RBI. Arrangements are underway and in a day or two, everything will be settled.”
Asked if transferring funds online would be the way forward in disbursing allowances, the member admitted it was a “better way of doing it”, but said the board had to work on the details. “We still have to work on this. These are the nitty gritties that we can’t just talk off hand.”
India Under-19s took the five-match one-day series against England 3-1. The teams will now meet each other in two four-day games in Nagpur, the first of which begins from February 13.
Arun Venugopal is a correspondent at ESPNcricinfo. @scarletrun
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo