India’s largest state-owned bank, State Bank Of India (SBI), has announced that there was no need to fill up any form or submit identity proof for the exchange of 2,000-rupee bank notes.
The bank, however, reiterated the one-time limit for exchanging denomination notes was 20,000 rupees.
“The facility of exchange of rupees 2,000 denomination bank notes to all members of the public up to a limit of rupees 20,000 at a time will be allowed without obtaining any requisition slip,” the SBI said in a notification. “No identity proof is required to be submitted by the tenderer at the time of exchange.”
On Friday, India’s central banking institution, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), said it was withdrawing the 2,000-rupee currency notes from circulation. However, it said the 2,000 denomination notes will continue to be legal tender until Sept. 30 and people can readily exchange them at the banks by then.
The RBI has advised banks to stop issuing 2,000-rupee bank notes and said the process of exchanging the bank notes will start on May 23.
The RBI first printed the 2,000-rupee note in November 2016 after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in a surprise televised address to the nation the withdrawal of 500- and 1,000-rupee bank notes from the country’s financial system.
The controversial move took 86 percent of the currency out of circulation overnight. The announcement triggered panic among the people who queued outside banks to exchange the banned currency notes and withdrew cash.
