New Delhi: The first day of the withdrawal of Rs 2000 notes against smaller denominations witnessed small queues at some bank branches. No great rush was witnessed for exchange when branches opened, sources said. Outlets of private sector banks in metro cities in the early hours had business as usual.
No rush was seen so far, a senior official of a public sector bank said. This is because a window of four months has been allotted for exchange, he reasoned adding that the currency in circulation to be exchanged is also relatively less. The official said that deposit in accounts are happening as usual and there is not much rush so far.
The RBI, in a surprise move, announced to do away with the Rs 2000 notes on Friday and gave the public time till September 30 to exchange their notes. The facility to exchange the defunct notes was scheduled to kick off from Tuesday. The RBI mandated that a person can exchange up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time.
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To further relax the procedure, the central bank announced that there would be no need to fill out any form or requisition slip to exchange the notes. Moreover, no identity proof would be required to be submitted by the tenderer at the time of exchange.
Earlier on November 8, 2016, 86 percent of India's currency in circulation was made invalid as the center, in a surprise operation, decided to derecognize Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes as legal tender. This time, however, Rs 2,000 notes remain a legal tender.
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On Monday, RBI Governor Shaktiikanta Das said that people have been allotted enough time to exchange and deposit their Rs 2000 notes in bank accounts. He also added that there is adequate stock of printed notes available in the system and there is no reason to worry.
