Post demonetisation deadline to deposit banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes ends on December 30.
Fifty days after the government banned most of the cash in circulation without warning, the deadline to deposit outlawed 500 and 1,000-rupee notes ends today. From tomorrow, it will be illegal to have old notes barring exceptions. The cash crunch and queues at ATMs may continue because of the huge demand for new bills. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the nation tomorrow on New Year's Eve on the notes ban, which was announced last month as a big move to check black or undeclared money.
From tomorrow, there will be steep fines for having more than 10 banned notes. People will be fined 10,000 rupees or five times the value of the notes, whichever is higher.
Those who couldn't deposit old notes because they were abroad, in inaccessible areas or are in the military can do so at the RBI till March 31.
Anyone caught giving a false explanation for not depositing their old notes earlier will be punished with a fine of Rs 50,000 or five times the value of the notes.
Up to 25 banned notes will be allowed for study, research and numismatics.
After the notes ban, the government had fixed a limit of 24,000 rupees per week on withdrawals from bank accounts and 2,500 rupees per day from ATMs to ration cash. Many banks have urged the government to continue the restrictions as there is still not enough cash and the demand vastly exceeds supply.
Banks started accepting deposits in scrapped notes from November 10, two days after PM Modi announced the sudden ban on the two highest value currency notes.
There were endless queues at ATMs, which had to be recalibrated for people to get the new 2,000-rupee notes.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that clear results of the Prime Minister's November 8 announcement are already in, with tax and revenue collections up.
Attacked by the opposition Congress, the Trinamool and Left over the impact of the notes ban on people, the ruling BJP will launch a massive political campaign in the new year to back demonetisation and the Modi government's drive to transition to a cashless economy.
According to the Reserve Bank, more than 13 lakh crores in old notes have returned to the system as deposits.
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