The demonetization drive has been ongoing since a bit of time now. On Thursday, in order to tighten the process a bit, the government announced that there will be no over the counter exchange for the old notes of INR 500 and INR 1000. People can however, still deposit the notes in their bank accounts and withdraw them according to the prescribed rules. The latest statement comes a day after the RBI had directed banks to take actions against their staff members who were indulged in illegal exchanging of the old notes.
The government statement, which was released to announce this move stated that there has been a sharp decline in the number of people exchanging their notes. The move will encourage the public to deposit the old notes in their bank account and for those, who are still unbanked, this will be an opportunity to open a bank account.
The central government also announced that the exempted places will continue to accept INR 500 note till December 15th, however, after this move, the only way remaining to use the old INR 1000 notes is to deposit them in the bank account.
The exempted places for using 500 rupee note include government schools and colleges, places for paying utility bills like water and electricity, petrol stations, government operated consumer cooperative stores etc. The notes will also be accepted at national highway toll plazas from December 3rd to December 15th. Collection of toll on national highways has been exempted till December 2nd.
Foreigners, who are traveling across India will be able to exchange upto INR 5000 rupees per week and the details of exchange will be recorded in their passports.