New Delhi: Haryana's Home Minister Anil Vij has said that only those who accumulated Rs 2,000 currency notes illegally are crying over the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) decision to withdraw the highest-value currency note from circulation.
In a surprise move, on Friday, RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation but gave the public time till September 30 to either deposit such notes in accounts or exchange them at banks.
It said it had asked banks to stop issuing Rs 2,000 notes with immediate effect.
"Those who are crying have filled sacks and accumulated (Rs 2,000 currency) notes in an illegal manner," Vij said in a statement on Saturday.
Rs 2,000 notes will continue to be legal tender and can be exchanged or deposited in banks. Those who have them can go to a bank and deposit them or get them exchanged, he said.
Beginning on Tuesday, May 23, the procedure of depositing and exchanging Rs 2,000 notes will begin. The RBI said that in order to avoid any disruption of regular activities of bank branches and ensure operational convenience, the exchange of Rs 2,000 notes could be made up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23.
Meanwhile, the State Bank of India (SBI) has issued a clarification regarding the exchange of Rs 2,000 currency notes. The SBI in a circular which was issued on Saturday said that people don't need to fill out requisition forms if a person wishes to exchange their Rs 2,000 currency notes up to the limit of Rs 20,000 at a time. If anyone wishes to get an amount beyond Rs 20,000 of the said currency exchanged then they will have to fill the requisition form.
The circular further added that the tenderer won't have to submit any proof of identification at the time of the exchange either.
Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes were introduced in November 2016, primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes in circulation at that time.
The RBI said it has also been observed that Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes are not commonly used for transactions. Further, the stock of banknotes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public.