The Reserve Bank of India, in a statement to a parliamentary committee, admitted that it has no information as to how much black money was eradicated from the economic system of India since 8 Nov, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the old currency notes of Rs 1000 and 500 to be invalid.
According to the RBI, there is no information in this regard too, that after the ban, how much of undeclared income has been changed from new notes to be declared as legal income. The Reserve Bank told the parliamentary panel that the old notes close to Rs 15.28 lakh crore have been returned, but the correct figure can be claimed only after further investigations. The RBI also stated that it is not aware whether the provision of putting a ban on old notes and issuing new currency is allowed to be done from time to time. Reserve Bank of India had submitted its reply in writing to the Parliamentary panel.
The Reserve Bank had issued an official report last week for the first time after the note ban stating the figures about the money that came back after demonetisation. It said that after the ban, 15.28 lakh crores had returned to the banks. The bank had submitted the same figure to the parliamentary committee as well.
The Bank said that the work of certification of the notes is still in progress and the notes deposited in banks and post offices are still safe in the currency chest. It said to the parliamentary committee that considering a large number of notes, the work of certification will take time and the correct figures can be revealed only after that.
The Reserve Bank said that till the certification of the deposited notes is completed, the figures linked to it are estimated on the basis of ISBN number which is 15.28 lakh crore till 30 June 2017.
The Parliamentary Panel includes MPs of different parties. Congress leader Veerappa Moily is its chairman and Biju Janata Dal MP Bhartruhari Mahatab, Naresh Agarwal of Samajwadi Party and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey are among the other members of the panel. The panel told the media that the report regarding the figures released after the note ban is being prepared again as the report issued by the RBI is only on estimated numbers and the certification of the notes submitted to the banks and post offices was still not completed.