New Delhi : Amidst the surge in demand for exchanging Rs 2,000 currency notes, both the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Economic Offense Wing (EOW) have launched investigations following media reports.
Over the past three days, a substantial crowd has gathered in front of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) office in Bhubaneswar to exchange their Rs 2,000 notes. According to Sarada Prasana Mohanty, the Regional Director of the RBI, approximately 700 individuals are visiting the RBI daily to swap their Rs 2,000 notes, resulting in a daily exchange of Rs 1 to 1.5 crore worth of these notes. The RBI has offered its full cooperation in providing any necessary documents to investigative agencies.
On May 19, 2023, the RBI had announced the discontinuation of the Rs 2,000 banknotes and set October 7 as the deadline for the public to exchange or deposit these notes. During the Monetary Policy review meeting on Friday, October 6, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das revealed that about Rs 12,000 crore, equivalent to 3.37% of the total currency notes, still remained in circulation.
It has come to light that many daily wage laborers are queuing up to exchange the Rs 2,000 notes, allegedly receiving commissions ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 300 for facilitating these exchanges. In response to this information, officials from the ED and the Economic Offense Wing have initiated investigations into the matter.
The Rs 2,000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016 to meet the economy’s urgent currency needs after the demonetization of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes in circulation at that time. With the availability of banknotes in other denominations in sufficient quantities, the printing of Rs 2,000 banknotes was discontinued in the fiscal year 2018-19.
