As Of Today The Old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 Notes Are Banned

In a groundbreaking move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced last night that starting from 9 November, all banknotes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 would become illegal tender. This move was spurred by his war on black money entering the country. In a 40 minute address Modi explained his reasons adding that these notes “will not be legal tender from midnight tonight” and that they will become “worthless pieces of paper.”
In the recent months circulation of counterfeit currency has become abundant and corruption is rampant. By withdrawing the notes from circulation, especially with so little warning, Modi hopes to stop criminals in their tracks and render all this black money worthless.
While the Rs. 1000 note is now history the Rs. 500 note will return with a new look. Other denominations will remain unchanged but there are plans to introduce a new note of Rs. 2000. The mints have increased their production in an attempt to meet the sudden demand and with luck things will be functioning smoothly by the end of the week.

To make this transition smoother and in order to keep necessary services on track CNG Stations, Petrol Pumps and Government hospitals have been granted a 72 hour window in which they will still accept the old tender. However at midnight on the 11th they too will be bound by the new rules. After that you will be able to exchange or deposit your invalid notes at your bank until the 30th of December. We do however wonder whether Modi knows his country as well as he claims because there is a sizeable chunk of the population who subsist on cash payments and aren’t bank account holders. Moreover, they may not even have government-approved photo ID’s, we wonder whether the Indian government would be willing to reimburse them for the wads of now useless currency that they have been saving.
The rest of the country is just finding this whole business slightly irksome, all banks and ATM’s will remain shut on the 9th and possibly even the 10th of this month which means that anyone who’s looking at only 500’s in their wallet right now has gone from estatic to aghast in mere seconds. Rest in peace 1000 notes, you shall be missed but thanks to the chaos you’re causing we bet it will be a long while before you’re forgotten.

Featured Image Courtesy indianexpress.com