Most banks have introduced automated machines to help us to update our passbooks, although these are not as common as ATM machines. Self-updating of passbooks has reduced the time spent standing in long lines in a servile manner in front of a bank staff. The customers can update either in his/her bank’s branch or in a kiosk and even during bank holidays. The only hitch is that every bank has different sizes of passbooks which make it impossible to update in a different bank than that of the account holders.
Similar to debit and credit cards, that are of identical sizes and are universally accepted in any ATM and POS machines, the banks in India could introduce passbooks of uniform dimensions. The procedure will require tweaking/replacing the passbook printing facilities in the banks and in the automated machines. Such same-sized passbooks will be convenient to those who do not have a branch of their bank in the vicinity and to those who have accounts in multiple banks. Additionally, the income tax people can track all the transactions and balances of any customer in one go!
