Just two months ago, on 8 November 2016, Indian Prime Minister Modi announced the demonetisation of the two highest denominations representing 84% of the value of currencyThe money used in a particular country at a particular time, like dollar, yen, euro, etc., consisting of banknotes and coins, that does not require endorsement as a medium of exchange. More in circulation. This is the world’s largest monetary exchangeThe Eurosystem comprises the European Central Bank and the national central banks of those countries that have adopted the euro. More, surpassing the euroThe name of the European single currency adopted by the European Council at the meeting held in Madrid on 15-16 December 1995. See ECU. More changeover in 2002, both in terms of volumes of notes involved and the timing. In India, 23 billion notes were taken out of circulation whereas in Europe, 15 billion notes were introduced. The euro changeover included a period of dual circulation of the legacy currencies and euros of up to two months[1]. In India, the legal tenderMoney that is legally valid for the payment of debts and must be accepted for that purpose when offered. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered (“tendered”) in payment of a debt extinguishes the debt. There is no obligation on the creditor to accept the tendered payment, but the act of tendering the payment in legal tender discharges the debt. More status was withdrawn overnight, but people had until 30 December to exchange their old banknotes, exclusively at bank branches and post offices. The ECB has produced an excellent evaluation of the 2002 cash changeover, which gives an idea of the scope of the challenges and the level of preparation involved .
One of the strongest motivations of the decision to demonetise was to combat corruption by targeting unaccounted money. The government had allowed citizens to deposit their large denominationEach individual value in a series of banknotes or coins. More notes with their banks, provided they could prove that it is from an accounted source and that they can provide identification. Crucially, there was also a weekly limit of Rs 20,000 on the amount of withdrawals that can be made from the bank. The rationale was that holders of black moneyMoney obtained from criminal or illegal activities. For that reason, it is obviously not declared to the tax authorities. See Grey money. More would be extremely wary of depositing their moneyFrom the Latin word moneta, nickname that was given by Romans to the goddess Juno because there was a minting workshop next to her temple. Money is any item that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular region, country or socio-economic context. Its onset dates back to the origins of humanity and its physical representation has taken on very varied forms until the appearance of metal coins. The banknote, a typical representati... More in bank accounts, which can leave a trail for income tax authorities.
However, according to the Financial Times, the latest data from the Reserve BankSee Central bank. More of India, show that «over Rs14tn out of the Rs15.5tn that was scrapped has now successfully been deposited despite stringent checks for untaxed income — far more than the Rs10tn that the government initially predicted.» Bloomberg reports that Rs14.97 trillion or $220 billion were received by banks as of December 30. The government had initially estimated that approximately Rs5 trillion would not be repatriated.
Even more surprising, the cashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More crisis did not benefit digital payments. On the contrary, « the total value of non-cash payments declined 12% in December compared to the average of April to October. » according to Bloomberg. Several factors explain this. High-value transactions declined and the most plausible reason « could be that businesses have taken a hit post demonetisationSee Demonetised banknote. More. » says Manju Agarwal, Deputy Managing Director at State Bank of India. Moreover, paymentA transfer of funds which discharges an obligation on the part of a payer vis-à-vis a payee. More card transactions declined by a whopping 79%, compared to the average of previous months. The majority of card transactions in India are actually ATM withdrawals.
[1] Some countries including the Netherlands, Ireland and France opted for a six–week dual circulation period.