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Why RBI is withdrawing pre-2005 notes

RBI withdraws old currency notes

All Indian currency notes issued before 2005 will soon go out of circulation, as per a new directive issued by the Reserve Bank of India on 22 January 2013.

From 1 April 2014, all currency notes issued prior to 2005 will need to be exchanged at any bank in the country.

There’s no need to have an account with the bank where the notes are being exchanged. The notes can be exchanged until 30 June 2014.

From 1 July 2014, the depositor will need to provide a proof of identity and proof of address, if the number of notes being exchanged in more than 10.

RBI withdraws old currency notes

The apex bank has not set a deadline for accepting old notes by banks.

To be able to tell if the note is pre-2005 or not, a close look at the note reveals the year of issue. All notes issued after 2005 will have the year inscribed on them. All notes where the year of issue is not mentioned are pre-2005 notes and should be returned to banks.

The move has caused a mixed reaction from people.

 

The aim of the initiative is to move to a cashless economy, RBI says. However, experts are inferring that the move is aimed at tackling the growing problem of black money in the economy.

The sheer size of currency notes that are in circulation is likely to make this exercise extremely challenging for banks. This is likely to create long queues at bank-branches, most of which are already under-staffed and struggle to cater to walk-in customers.

Questions are being raised about the effectiveness of RBI’s directive in curbing black money.

Then there are questions about the 2005 cut-off. What about the black money ‘earned’ after 2005?

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