Commercial banks have sought approval from the banking regulator to allow existing non-resident Indian customers to prematurely withdraw and rebook deposits to take advantage of the time-bound FCNR deposit scheme, which in some cases offers almost double the returns of regular term deposits. Some large depositors are instructing their banks to prematurely close term deposits and redeploying the funds in other banks, bankers said. Banks are offering between 6% and 7.1% for three- to five-year deposits under the special scheme, compared with 3.35% to 4% previously.