99.3% junked currency returned to banks: RBI

Mumbai: As much as 99.3 per cent of the junked Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have returned to banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Wednesday, indicating that just a miniscule percentage of currency was left out of the system after the Narendra Modi government's unprecedented note ban "aimed at curbing black money and corruption". The RBI, which has taken an awfully long time to count the currency that was returned in the limited period window provided by the Government to exchange or deposit the demonetised currency, said in its Annual Report for 2017-18 that the exercise is finally over.

Of the Rs 15.41 lakh crore worth Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in circulation on November 8, 2016 when the note ban was announced, notes worth Rs 15.31 lakh crore have been returned. This means that just Rs 10,720 crore of the junked currency did not return to the banking system. After the note ban, old junked notes, called specified bank notes (SBNs), were allowed to be deposited in banks with unusual deposits coming under income tax scrutiny.

The "humungous task of processing and verification of specified bank notes (SBNs) was successfully achieved," it said. The SBNs received were verified, counted and processed in the sophisticated high speed currency verification and processing system (CVPS) for accuracy and genuineness and then shredded, it added. RBI said that the processing of SBNs has since been completed. "The total SBNs returned from circulation is Rs 15,310.73 billion."

A collateral damage as a result of rise in printing and other cost is the dividend the RBI pays to the Government. The government replaced old Rs 500 notes with new ones, but no replacement for Rs 1,000 notes was made. Instead, a new Rs 2,000 note was introduced after the note ban.

Reacting to the RBI data, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted, "As soon as the draconian #DeMonetisation was announced on November 8 in 2016, I immediately sensed that this is a big anti-people measure."

"Today, the RBI in its annual report for 2017-18 has vindicated our apprehension. 99.3% of the money has come back to the banking system.... My first question now is — where has the black money gone? My second question – was this scheme hatched to allow some black-money holders to quietly convert their black money into white? What a tragedy and what a shame!!!"