The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has rejected the request of Election Commission to increase the weekly cash withdrawal limit for nominated candidates in the five poll bound states, from Rs. 24,000 to Rs. 2 lakh, till the declaration of results on March 11.

RBI said it was not possible for it to hike the limit at this stage.

The Commission had on Wednesday written to RBI to enhance the withdrawal limit stating that it has been appraised of the problems candidates from different political parties were facing, particularly in the rural areas, due to withdrawal limit imposed after the note ban. The EC had pointed out that a candidate would be able to withdraw only Rs 96,000 in cash during the election process which lasts three to four weeks while the statutory limit on expenditure is Rs 28 lakh in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh and Rs 20 lakh in Manipur and Goa.

An apparently piqued EC on Saturday again wrote to RBI Governor Urjit Patel expressing “serious concerns about the cursory manner in which the issue has been dealt with and it appears that the RBI has not realised the gravity of the matter.”

It urged the Central Bank to reconsider the proposal since it was imperative to facilitate proper conduct of elections.