RBI has stopped printing Rs 2,000 currency notes in an attempt to gradually stop their circulation, as reported by ThePrint. As per The Print, the new move has been taken on the back of question in the government that the currency note was being used for hoarding, tax evasion and money laundering.
It was in November 2016 that the Rs 2,000 note was introduced after demonetisation. In a bid to counter the massive cash shortage, the government printed new Rs 2,000 notes.
It may be noted that as of March 2018, the overall value of the currency in circulation was Rs 18.03 trillion, of which Rs 6.73 trillion, or 37%, was in Rs 2,000 notes, and Rs 7.73 trillion, around 43 per cent, in Rs 500 notes. The left out ones was in the lower denominations.
When the Rs 2,000 note was rolled out, the Narendra Modi-led government was in the receiving end for introducing a note of such a high denomination considering it had cancelled the Rs 1,000 note.
On the contrary
The new currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2000 stole the spotlight as soon as they were introduced after demonetisation reforms. Nonetheless, only two years have passed and there are speculations that the new currency notes are fast becoming ‘unrecognisable’ or ‘unusable’ because of poor paper quality.
However, since the inception, the currency notes have been in news for all the wrong reasons. The people got new notes, which were blank on one side of the note, with missing serial number and without the image of Mahatma Gandhi.
People have also raised doubts about the quality of the newly-released notes and even argued that they might have a lesser lifespan compared to the earlier notes. Well, it’s been two years since the notes have been in circulation, it very much seems that the initial fears are true.
As per a report in Amar Ujala, the new notes are soon becoming ‘unusable’due to the paper quality of the new currency notes which are not really good in comparison to the previous notes. But the question arises as to what happens if it becomes unusable. In that case, it can’t be used in ATMs as the sensors inside the machines can’t detect the bad quality notes.
According to a news report, the problem is so extreme that apart from the new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 currency notes, new Rs 10 notes which were issued in 2018 are also fast becoming ‘unusable’. The report further added that the banks have started categorisation of these currency notes under ‘non-issuable’ category.
Nonetheless, the government has ignored any compromise with the quality of the currency notes by giving a strong reason that the new notes have higher security features to stop the infamous counterfeiting.
“The new notes are becoming unusable because users in India keep the currency folded or tie it with saree or dhoti,” Amar Ujala quoted a top official in the banking division of the Finance Ministry as saying.
