The 131-day window to exchange junked 2,000 rupee currency notes opened on Tuesday with a mixed bag of small queues and confusion at some banks over the requirement of officially valid identity cards such as PAN or Aadhaar, and official forms.
Some banks demand IDentity proof
- The currency notes of Rs 2,000 can be exchanged or deposited till September 30
- Compared to demonetisation, this time the quantum of currency being withdrawn is significantly smaller
- During the demonetisation, 86% of the notes in circulation was withdrawn with old 500 and 1,000 notes ceasing to be legal tender
Unlike November 2016, when old 500 and 1000 rupee notes - constituting some 86% of the currency in circulation - were banned overnight, Rs 2,000 currency notes continue to be legal tender for now, and the exchange window is more than double of that provided in 2016
While the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has not made the presentation of a valid ID or filling of deposit forms mandatory, there were complaints from some places that banks were demanding customers to submit identity cards as proof.
Some banks exchanged notes by making an electronic entry, few others asked customers to pen down their name and mobile number in a registrar without giving any identity proof.
At some places, however, customers said they were asked to present their PAN or Aadhaar cards. A small number of customers claimed the bank they visited did not exchange the notes and instead asked them to deposit those in their accounts.
While the queues and long waits witnessed in 2016 were not there, customer feedback indicated a lack of consistent policy across banks.
The RBI on Friday announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes as part of its currency management.
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