RBI wants you to keep your notes colourfree this Holi
ECONOMICTIMES.COM|
Updated: Mar 09, 2017, 04.24 PM IST
NEW DELHI: Forget spending it, this Holi you may have to think twice before 'touching' your own money. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed banks not to accept currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 denomination stained by colours. If you prefer to read too much between the lines, this could be another attempt by the Narendra Modi government to boost digital transactions on a festive day.
The new RBI directive effectively means if you are planning to play with colours, better be cashless or carry currency notes of lower denomination.
The directive has been issued to keep up with the RBI's 'clean note policy'. The RBI announced this policy in 1999, and since then a slew of measures have been taken to control the soiled and mutilated banknotes in circulation.
Holi is a Hindu festival, celebrated with great fervour and jest across the country, especially in the northern region. This year, Holi will be celebrated on March 13.
Besides this new directive, the RBI has also announced that it would shortly issue Rs 10 denomination notes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005 with inset letter 'L' in both the number panels, bearing the signature of Dr. Urjit R. Patel, the RBI Governor, and the year of printing '2017' printed on the reverse of the banknote.
The numerals in both the number panels of these banknotes are in the ascending size from left to right while the first three alpha-numeric characters (prefix) remain constant in size.
According to the notification, all the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 10 issued by the bank in the past will continue to be legal tender.
The new RBI directive effectively means if you are planning to play with colours, better be cashless or carry currency notes of lower denomination.
The directive has been issued to keep up with the RBI's 'clean note policy'. The RBI announced this policy in 1999, and since then a slew of measures have been taken to control the soiled and mutilated banknotes in circulation.
Holi is a Hindu festival, celebrated with great fervour and jest across the country, especially in the northern region. This year, Holi will be celebrated on March 13.
Besides this new directive, the RBI has also announced that it would shortly issue Rs 10 denomination notes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005 with inset letter 'L' in both the number panels, bearing the signature of Dr. Urjit R. Patel, the RBI Governor, and the year of printing '2017' printed on the reverse of the banknote.
The numerals in both the number panels of these banknotes are in the ascending size from left to right while the first three alpha-numeric characters (prefix) remain constant in size.
According to the notification, all the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 10 issued by the bank in the past will continue to be legal tender.