Demonetised Currency Notes’ Exchange: Around seven years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016 announced the demonetisation of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes. With this, he declared the issuance of new currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 in exchange for the demonetised banknotes.
Now, a circular by the Reserve Bank of India seems to claim that foreign citizens can still exchange the old notes. “In supersession of instructions issued therein, it has been decided that foreign citizens (i.e. foreign passport holders) should be given a final facility for exchange foreign exchange for Indian demonetised currency notes,” it said.
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The order issued in the name of the central bank claimed that exchange facility for Indian demonetized currency notes for foreign citizens has been extended. But is it true?
Government of India’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Monday fact checked the viral order, clearly stating that “this order is fake”. The exchange facility for Indian demonetised currency notes for foreign citizens ended in 2017, PIB said.
Demonetisation
After its announcement, during the period between November 2016 to March 2017, the Income-tax Department conducted search and seizure actions in 900 groups leading to seizure of Rs 900 crore, including cash of Rs 636 crore and admission of undisclosed income of about Rs 7,961 crore.
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A 25 per cent growth rate was achieved in the number of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filed with the Income-tax Department during FY 2017-18, which was the highest rate achieved in the preceding five years, Union Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha last month.
During FY18, about 1 crore 7 lakh ITRs were filed as compared to 85.51 lakh during FY17. In earlier years, the number of new filers was between 50 lakh and 66 lakh.
