Aurangabad, Feb 27:
Over the last few months, citizens have been bringing in new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 soiled and damaged notes to the commission agents for exchange. As soiled and torn currency worth crores are lying in the banks, they are reluctant to accept such notes from customers. Hence citizens are being forced to approach commission agents and exchange these notes for less money.
From November 8, 2016, the old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes were discontinued. Subsequently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes. However, due to poor paper quality, especially Rs 2,000 notes are deteriorating fast. The RBI has not printed a single new note of Rs 2,000 in the year 2019-2020. The colour of these notes is fading due to use. After 2018, soiled and torn notes are being deposited in large numbers in nationalized banks. In November 2020, Rs 100 crore worth of soiled notes were deposited in the currency chests of nationalized banks. Of this, notes worth Rs 34.6 crore were sent to the RBI. According to sources, at present, all the banks have a large stock of soiled notes. As a result, banks are sending customers who come to exchange notes to commission agents who buy bad notes in the market. The commission agent said that over the last month, customers have brought in more than Rs 3 lakh worth of soiled notes largely of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000. These commission agents pay the value depending on the condition. They take the commission and give it to the brokers sitting outside the RBI in Mumbai.
Mandatory for banks
Bank officials said that under the RBI directives, it is mandatory to accept soiled notes from customers. The notes are then sent to the RBI, which pays the same amount to the banks in exchange for the notes. This is not a loss for the bank but this process takes place once or twice a year, hence the notes occupy a large amount of space and manpower.