The Election Commission has written to the Finance Ministry, advising it not to use indelible ink at banks. The ink is used to mark voters who exercise their franchise during state and parliamentary elections, but was set to be used on those exchanging old currency at banks, after the Centre demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes last week.

The election monitoring body said using such ink would cause confusion in the upcoming state polls, though banks were told to mark members of the public on their right hand. During elections, voters are marked on their left hand. Bypolls are scheduled in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal, Madhya Pradesh and Tripura on November 19, while Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand are slated to have Assembly elections in the coming months.

Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das had announced the move to mark people with indelible ink earlier this week, in order to shorten queues and the rush at banks and ATMs. Das had said people visiting banks more than once to withdraw money and exchange notes were the reason for long queues and that many individuals were also sending groups of people to banks to convert their black money into legal tender.

The move to demonetise the high-value notes was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, in an effort to crack down on corruption and black money.