Currency Demonetisation and Future course of Indian Economy

[shiv]

I have an octagenarian aunt who, I am told had a biggish stash of cash that cannot otherwise be explained. I mean that she has a PAN number and is in the IT network but has rental income in cash that has not been declared for many years. I suspect she is set to lose 90%. But what was odd was the rumors we heard - some of the stash is in bank lockers and the bank is said to have told her that she cannot take out more than a small percentage. Of course these are family rumours that have followed the route aunt>second aunt>second aunt's helper>my SHQ.

[g.sarkar]

http://www.firstpost.com/india/demoneti ... 21450.html
Demonetisation: SBI slashes bulk deposit rates by 1.9% following surge in deposits
Nov 23, 2016 23:15 IST
New Delhi: Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi signalled that rates are on the way down, the State Bank of India (SBI) slashed bulk deposit rates by up to 1.9 percent on Wednesday, taking advantage of the surge in deposits following demonetisation, which was announced by the government on 8 November.
New Delhi: Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi signalled that rates are on the way down, the State Bank of India (SBI) slashed bulk deposit rates by up to 1.9 percent on Wednesday, taking advantage of the surge in deposits following demonetisation, which was announced by the government on 8 November.The state-owned bank's CFO Anshula Kant told CNBC-TV18 that the cut was imperative given credit offtake is low and fund inflows have been huge following the demonetisation move. The SBI has garnered deposits of over Rs 1,15,000 crore so far.
.....

Gautam

[shiv]

I think 2k notes are stop-gap. I doubt they will make it widespread. Once the currency exchange issue is resolved, there really is no need to print any more 2k notes. My best guess is Rs 500 note will be the biggest denomination. 2k might just be to do exchange more efficiently at this time.

I agree with this - and in fact they may have a planned demonetization in which people are given 6 months notice to deposit all 2K notes in the bank and exchange for 500 notes. The more intelligent hoarders will have guessed this. Rs 500 is the note to stash away and it is the slowest in coming...

[putnanja]

I have an octagenarian aunt who, I am told had a biggish stash of cash that cannot otherwise be explained. I mean that she has a PAN number and is in the IT network but has rental income in cash that has not been declared for many years. I suspect she is set to lose 90%. But what was odd was the rumors we heard - some of the stash is in bank lockers and the bank is said to have told her that she cannot take out more than a small percentage. Of course these are family rumours that have followed the route aunt>second aunt>second aunt's helper>my SHQ.

There is still no clarity on the 200% penalty. There were reports in Economic times that the IT Act doesn't specify the 200% penalty. So she might still get to keep at least 20-40%. Also, whats in the bank locker is supposed to be private, the bank staff also don't know what each customer puts in, and what they take out. So not sure how the bank knows she keeps currency in lockers and will allow only little at a time to be taken out.

[manjgu]

no way bank can dictate what i take out or keep in locker.

[manjgu]

2k notes are indeed stop gap..just for the present situation..may be phased out in maybe 1 or 2 years

[Karthik S]

Indeed, in one of his interviews, Anil Bokil did mention that 2k notes are stop gag arrangement and that they'll also be taken out in the future.

[disha]

I have an octagenarian aunt who, I am told had a biggish stash of cash that cannot otherwise be explained. I mean that she has a PAN number and is in the IT network but has rental income in cash that has not been declared for many years

Shivji., she may not lose anything if she can show expenses to maintain her assets., like repairs. She can contract various jobs & pay them in advance., from the stash after depositing in bank. Further she can open a corporate account., hire a CA & grandfather the stash in. There are ways., a professional can help. Of course there is no zero tax!

[Suraj]

Wow, a near 2% cut in deposit rates means the banks are overflowing with deposits . The most fundamental measure of success is, does the population cooperate and deposit money ?

I think we are underestimating just how smooth and organized this process has been . Remember the population could haave collectively rebelled 'scrooo yoo! We are going to collectively refuse to accept this measure and keep using these notes and force your government down instead!'

But they didn't . They have shown tremendous alacrity to run to the banks . The rate at which deposits are being made means the whole exercise will be done weeks ahead of schedule . Of course some taper will happen, and some cash destroyed but GoI does not care because all the deposited cash will be destroyed anyway - people destroying it themselves just removed RBIs liability on it .

Effectively this strengthens compliance of the population towards an action focused on improving legal economic activity . It means the population accords sufficient faith in how the government will handle things. They also understood and asserted the big picture that this was necessary .

Going back to the SBIs action, think about it - that is a microcosm of the cost black money placed on everyone . It raised the cost of money and therefore the cost of everything on everybody, because turning white to black is how black money economy survives. Take that away and suddenly things drop in price, your cost of money falls approximately 20-33% . You just got much richer, because your white money goes much further and you have much greater leverage and purchasing power . This will soon sink in as people realize 'oh wow suddenly I can buy so much more'.

[Shaktimaan]

The Indian government as we know it has elements of corruption at all levels. Is it not counterproductive to confiscate more and more capital from small businessmen and feed it to this entity, which will allocate it inefficiently or otherwise squander it on renting treadmills for Rs.32,000 per day?

I am not feeling so gleeful about this. After all, there is no guarantee that governments after this one will be of the caliber of NaMo's current setup.

Unless NaMo does something serious to combat corruption and graft in the government at all levels, this move to collect more tax will ultimately backfire. This will simply move capital from private businessmen who would presumably use it responsibly (because they own it and their future depends on it) to babooz and netas who will use it inefficiently (because they didn't earn it and they have no stake in how it is used).

Further to what I wrote here the other today, the tax man needs to distinguish between black money that businesses are forced to generate ans use to get anything done from the government officials (speed money or grease money) vs. black money earned via corruption. Otherwise they will impact almost every business in the country.

[Rammpal]

Take that away and suddenly things drop in price, your cost of money falls approximately 20-33% . You just got much richer, because your white money goes much further and you have much greater leverage and purchasing power . This will soon sink in as people realize 'oh wow suddenly I can buy so much more'.

This needs to be pushed/broadcast, far and wide.
How do you plan on doing that ?

[Karthik S]

Cutting deposit rates but not lending rate yet could mean banks want people to spend money instead of saving them or they want to earn as much as they can through interest rate spread for past losses from write offs etc.

[Rammpal]

Further to what I wrote here the other today, the tax man needs to distinguish between black money that businesses are forced to generate ans use to get anything done from the government officials (speed money or grease money) vs. black money earned via corruption. Otherwise they will impact almost every business in the country.

What's next, cops need to differentiate a rapist who was compelled by his bio-needs and one who is a true or career rapist ?!!
BM or White, no in-between shades.

[Suraj]

This needs to be pushed/broadcast, far and wide.
How do you plan on doing that ?

What's to publish ? It's going to be visible every time one opens their wallet . The continuous push of inflation driven by black money conversion no longer hurts the population.

[shiv]

Cash Ban Hits Capitation Fee, Top Medical Colleges Get Tax Notices

If colleges have been sitting on this kind of cash-stash for, let's say, five or ten years, they could be staring at a huge amount of valueless bits of paper unless they find an innovative way to 'whiten' it.

But what will be more interesting to watch will be its impact on politics, elections in particular, he says.

"The education lobby and the realty lobby have been controlling the election funding. To a smaller extent, maybe industrialists contribute to politicians but even they don't have so much liquid cash. The big money – hundreds of crores -- has come from education and real estate lobbies. That's why politicians run most of these colleges and education trusts," the principal points out.

A majority of the 32 private medical colleges in Karnataka are run by politicians – some of whom are ministers in the current State government.

Ninety per cent of private medical colleges are run by politicians or their kin, says Dr Das, adding that some of the deemed universities she has inspected previously were shams in the name of education.

"There are universities where the chancellor, the pro-chancellor and the vice-chancellor are husband, wife and son. Is that possible to have such 'academics' in the family – they are just family-run business that are churning out quacks," she says.

[manjgu]

sharda university took 25L for admission to MDS course from my niece... all in cash.

[Bart S]

I think 2k notes are stop-gap. I doubt they will make it widespread. Once the currency exchange issue is resolved, there really is no need to print any more 2k notes. My best guess is Rs 500 note will be the biggest denomination. 2k might just be to do exchange more efficiently at this time.

I agree with this - and in fact they may have a planned demonetization in which people are given 6 months notice to deposit all 2K notes in the bank and exchange for 500 notes. The more intelligent hoarders will have guessed this. Rs 500 is the note to stash away and it is the slowest in coming...

Govt should do a second surgical strike by:
-Withdrawing Rs 2000 notes
-Withdrawing Rs 500 notes and replacing with either Rs 200 or Rs 500 plastic currency

Should be a lot less trouble next time round if the government diligently pushes and mandates (where needed) cashless payment systems.

[chetak]

Cutting deposit rates but not lending rate yet could mean banks want people to spend money instead of saving them or they want to earn as much as they can through interest rate spread for past losses from write offs etc.

They may use this ploy to offset their NPA losses (without obviously appearing to do so) and boost their bottom lines at the cost of their customers.

[Bart S]

The Indian government as we know it has elements of corruption at all levels. Is it not counterproductive to confiscate more and more capital from small businessmen and feed it to this entity, which will allocate it inefficiently or otherwise squander it on renting treadmills for Rs.32,000 per day?

I am not feeling so gleeful about this. After all, there is no guarantee that governments after this one will be of the caliber of NaMo's current setup.

Unless NaMo does something serious to combat corruption and graft in the government at all levels, this move to collect more tax will ultimately backfire. This will simply move capital from private businessmen who would presumably use it responsibly (because they own it and their future depends on it) to babooz and netas who will use it inefficiently (because they didn't earn it and they have no stake in how it is used).

Further to what I wrote here the other today, the tax man needs to distinguish between black money that businesses are forced to generate ans use to get anything done from the government officials (speed money or grease money) vs. black money earned via corruption. Otherwise they will impact almost every business in the country.

The proper way to handle this is for the government to have an enhanced anti-corruption bureau and for businesses to report corrupt officials every time. If they don't it means that they are complicit with the officials due to cutting corners and not meeting regulations and hence paying a bribe, or they want to profit from black money by tax evasion and patronizing illegal lines of business.

Nobody is obliged to let corruption or black money slide just because so many businesses have their paws in the cookie jar.

There is also no god-given right to businesses to turn a profit or be very successful. They need to work hard at it, and adapt to changes in the environment. Businesses go bust en masse due to recession, technological disruption, Chinese imports and other such stuff from time to time. While such occurrences can at least be said to be unfortunate, that can't even be said about drying up of black money - they need to suck it up and move on, and most of them will.

[Bart S]

Cutting deposit rates but not lending rate yet could mean banks want people to spend money instead of saving them or they want to earn as much as they can through interest rate spread for past losses from write offs etc.

They may use this ploy to offset their NPA losses (without obviously appearing to do so) and boost their bottom lines at the cost of their customers.

Sooner or later they are going to have to drop interest rates on loans as well. Right now they are hiding behind the RBI rate and also the longer window they have to review rates on most loans.

[chetak]

They may use this ploy to offset their NPA losses (without obviously appearing to do so) and boost their bottom lines at the cost of their customers.

Sooner or later they are going to have to drop interest rates on loans as well. Right now they are hiding behind the RBI rate and also the longer window they have to review rates on most loans.

They are very reluctant to pass on even the RBI cuts that are made from time to time even though RBI specifically tells them to pass on the rate cuts to the customers.

ultimately, these guys want their legitimate depositors to carry the can for their bad business decisions. This is simply unethical, to say the least.

[yensoy]

ultimately, these guys want their legitimate depositors to carry the can for their bad business decisions. This is simply unethical, to say the least.

One would expect the hand of the free market to ensure that better run banks can quickly reduce the cost of borrowing in order to attract customers while keeping the interest rates as high as the market or even a trifle bit higher to attract savers. If that is not happening, it points to a collusion among equally incompetent or corrupt players, which should be broken up asap.

While it's true that there are bad decisions, banks also have to pay the high rates of interest on FDs till they mature. Borrowers, will shop around for cheaper loans and switch if it's convenient to them. So from that point of view, banks are in a little bit of trouble as interest rates fall - borrowers will benefit by refinancing, savers will benefit by staying put.

[chetak]

^^^^^^^

There is an unofficial but very efficiently organised and tightly run cartel that does these things. The presstitutes will always be "unable" to find any evidence to the contrary and so will never report on such a thing

Includes both private and PSU banks.

A GSTN like hydra headed monstrosity with it's foreign owned teeth deeply sunk into the Indian public trough would never have come about otherwise.

Can you imagine such a thing happening anywhere else in the world??

The baboo(n)s and politicos are fully complicit in this unholy mess for the benefits it brings them and will always turn a nelson's eye.

ps. where are the cheaper loans??

[hanumadu]

Cutting deposit rates but not lending rate yet could mean banks want people to spend money instead of saving them or they want to earn as much as they can through interest rate spread for past losses from write offs etc.

They may use this ploy to offset their NPA losses (without obviously appearing to do so) and boost their bottom lines at the cost of their customers.

They are already doing it by not passing on the interest rate reduction from RBI. By March 2017, all NPAs will be off the books and they will probably pass on the interest rates.
Right now the banks have a surfeit of deposits but no idea about how long they will stay with them, if they can lend it to others or if they will find any borrowers even. The deposits did not grow organically but came in a deluge. Until a steady state is established between deposits and borrowers, the banks are left with a lot of capital for which they are liable to pay interest without being able to lend out that money. Depending on the demand for capital and the deposits that are sticky, the lending rates and deposit rates will eventually converge after some time.

[Sicanta]

They may use this ploy to offset their NPA losses (without obviously appearing to do so) and boost their bottom lines at the cost of their customers.

Sooner or later they are going to have to drop interest rates on loans as well. Right now they are hiding behind the RBI rate and also the longer window they have to review rates on most loans.

They use MCLR to determine the lending rates. And it is revised on monthly basis.

http://www.indianeconomy.net/splclassro ... y-the-rbi/

[ragupta]

I am listening to a "Planet Money" podcast about the DeMo by NaMo and the host says some Mohit Dubey from Dilli "saved up" equivalent of Rs 350,000 in cash to prepare for a cousin's wedding. They don't say if it was black or white. Now with the DeMo rule, it is useless.

Is this true? I thought it was useless as long as you could not account for it. If you had 10 cr in the bank and you withdrew it as cash (for whatever reason) in Rs 1000 notes, you could still put all the money back into the bank and not lose it because you have a trail of taking out out from the bank. Hence it is white money, not black.

Is anything wrong with this logic? Looks like some rumors are being spread by furrin agencies.

This whole marriage concept is decaying. There is no need to spend large amt on money. And why do you need so much of cash.
Who are we satisfying by having bigger and bigger wedding, is that any kind of guarantee for happier life by spending more.
It seems families do large wedding for prestige and pride.

Now about happiness of Married people, talk to married guys and you would know this institution which was hope of happiness and better life partner is being chipped away from all angles by rights group, and it is becoming more and more about my rights, privacy, my space, egos, arrogance,selfishness and lesser and lesser about compromise and adjustment. Why spend so much when more and more are heading for splitsville.

The only one rejoicing are the vendors who make money from this economy.

[Sachin]

Today seem to be the last day for people to "officially" exchange the Rs.500 & Rs.1000 notes. But looks like the long line of money exchangers have now gone. The "marking using indelible ink" seems to have worked. Now the only option for people would be deposit these notes into the accounts.

With that now the focus should be on cooperative banks. Malayala Manorama (online edition in Malayalam) reports that the Reserve Bank would accept the 21,00 crores worth of deposits collected by the District Co.operative banks. My understanding is that the District Co.Op banks do operate under RBI guide lines, and thus may have KYC details of all their account holders. It seems the reserve bank has now confirmed that the district Co.Ops also would start receiving the new notes.

Kerala cooperative banks under I-T watch for deposits in old notes

[Akshay Kapoor]

Wow, a near 2% cut in deposit rates means the banks are overflowing with deposits . The most fundamental measure of success is, does the population cooperate and deposit money ?

I think we are underestimating just how smooth and organized this process has been . Remember the population could haave collectively rebelled 'scrooo yoo! We are going to collectively refuse to accept this measure and keep using these notes and force your government down instead!'

But they didn't . They have shown tremendous alacrity to run to the banks . The rate at which deposits are being made means the whole exercise will be done weeks ahead of schedule . Of course some taper will happen, and some cash destroyed but GoI does not care because all the deposited cash will be destroyed anyway - people destroying it themselves just removed RBIs liability on it .

Effectively this strengthens compliance of the population towards an action focused on improving legal economic activity . It means the population accords sufficient faith in how the government will handle things. They also understood and asserted the big picture that this was necessary .

Going back to the SBIs action, think about it - that is a microcosm of the cost black money placed on everyone . It raised the cost of money and therefore the cost of everything on everybody, because turning white to black is how black money economy survives. Take that away and suddenly things drop in price, your cost of money falls approximately 20-33% . You just got much richer, because your white money goes much further and you have much greater leverage and purchasing power . This will soon sink in as people realize 'oh wow suddenly I can buy so much more'.

The reason this (largest logistical exercise done by humanity and with total secrecy hence almost no preparation ) has suceeded is for one reason and one reason alone - people !

The people back it fully. Even those who don't fully understand all implications know in their guts that this is the right thing to do. The 'argumentative Indian' is peacefully standing in lines following the law in crores. This is much bigger than elections even and no CRPF ? BSF anything.

[Rishi Verma]

New BM laundering loop-hole found and plugged. Delhi biz man had asked a guy from Nagaland to deposit money then RTGS back to him. Seems some tribes in Nagaland and north-east enjoy Income Tax Exemption

Both are caught.

[Kakkaji]

In retrospect, the choice of Rs. 2,000 as the new denomination seems to have been a mistake. Had the Govt printed new notes in Rs. 200 or Rs. 250 denomination, the shortage of cash in the market would have been considerably less.

After December 30th, the Govt should bring out new notes in Rs 200 or Rs 250 denomination, and not in Rs 1,000 denomination. No more Rs. 2,000 notes should be printed. Wherever cash transactions are legitimately needed in the economy, notes in denominations upto Rs. 500 are sufficient. Higher denominations will end up hoarded in the black economy again.

JMHO

[Rammpal]

New BM laundering loop-hole found and plugged. Delhi biz man had asked a guy from Nagaland to deposit money then RTGS back to him. Seems some tribes in Nagaland and north-east enjoy Income Tax Exemption

Both are caught.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 590761.cms

[Vikas]

Deposited my final stash of Cash in the bank today. Not sure why they want a copy of my PAN Card when I am depositing the cash in my own account which is KYC Compliant.
Lots of ATMs are still non functional or go out of order/cash atleast once or twice a day. The ones which are working are dispensing only 2000 rupee note.

Opposition is too late in organizing the bandh on Monday. The worst is already over and with most of the business interested in getting back into the economy flow, Calling a Bandh now sounds like a stupid move. Except for Kerala and Bengal, I dont see this bandh being even making bit of impact anywhere else.

[pankajs]

Someone asked a while back .. What bout the money is the Swiss Banks?

This is just one such agreement. Expect more such arrangements in the future and no Dubai too will not be safe after a while. Modi did not go to Dubai just to pinprick Bakis. Every foreign touchdown has been with a definite purpose as the latest news demonstrates.

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/WjEfZm ... alphaideas
Swiss window for black money shuts

India, Switzerland sign deal for automatic exchange of financial information, complementing govt’s crackdown on black money
[quoteNew Delhi: The options for concealing illegal wealth shrank on Tuesday after India and Switzerland signed a declaration ending the era of Swiss bank secrecy and allowing automatic exchange of financial information between the two countries prospectively.

This complements the domestic crackdown on black money with the government announcing demonetization of currencies of denominations Rs1,000 and Rs500 on 8 November.

The notification this month of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, covering both movable and immovable assets, gives further ammunition to the government to crack down on tax evaders who use their unaccounted money to buy property under fictitious names.

Analysts say that even if the measures do not extinguish the problem of black money, they will increase the cost and risks of garnering illegal wealth.

Automatic exchange of information, along with the stringent Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, is expected to act as an effective deterrent for tax evaders who have stashed their money in foreign countries.

According to a joint declaration by the two countries, India will automatically receive all financial information about its residents, including bank accounts and balances, dividends and interest income and sales proceeds used to calculate capital gains tax, from September 2019.

The information will be for assessment years starting 2018.

The declaration was signed by Sushil Chandra, chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes, and Gilles Roduit, deputy chief of mission of the Swiss Embassy in India, and follows hectic negotiations spanning several years between the two countries.

Automatic exchange of information (AEOI) seeks to bring the era of banking secrecy to an end; eventually all financial information will be shared between governments. Switzerland is a signatory to the AEOI agreement under the aegis of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

However, for the agreement to come into effect, Switzerland had to either sign bilateral agreements with countries or be a signatory to the multilateral agreement. These agreements then have to be ratified by the Swiss Parliament. So far, Switzerland had signed such bilateral agreements mainly with European Union member countries.

In a statement, the Swiss embassy said, “India meets in particular the high demands in terms of adherence to the principle of speciality and the safeguarding of confidentiality for the data delivered, which are prerequisites for the introduction of the AEOI.”

India and Switzerland achieved headway in talks following a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Switzerland earlier this year where he pushed for automatic exchange of information in a meeting with Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann.

With the pact with the Swiss government, tax evaders will have no where to go after the recent moves of the government, including demonetization and notification of the Benami act, said Rakesh Nangia, managing partner, Nangia & Co. “The information coming from Switzerland will be legally sourced and hence there will be no bar on usage of such information to catch tax evaders.”[/quote]
There are ofcourse still other location but expect further action.

[Akshay Kapoor]

In retrospect, the choice of Rs. 2,000 as the new denomination seems to have been a mistake. Had the Govt printed new notes in Rs. 200 or Rs. 250 denomination, the shortage of cash in the market would have been considerably less.

After December 30th, the Govt should bring out new notes in Rs 200 or Rs 250 denomination, and not in Rs 1,000 denomination. No more Rs. 2,000 notes should be printed. Wherever cash transactions are legitimately needed in the economy, notes in denominations upto Rs. 500 are sufficient. Higher denominations will end up hoarded in the black economy again.

JMHO

yes this is the only question I had about the exercise. Will be much harder to hoard 200 or 250 Rs notes. Just stop printing 500 and 1000 notes and print 250. It can still be done. That's the beauty of demonetisation at this stage - we can learn and adapt and make it even better. But ATMs will have to be recalibrated again.

[pankajs]

The next switch does not have to be surgical. Stealth withdrawl can be initiated without any announcements. Can be done gradual by mopping up big notes that enter the banking system and issuing lower denomination in exchange. The ATMs can be run as just Rs 100 dispensing machines. Will need a bit more frequent reloading but that is all.

Such an unannounced and gradual switch will neither create a rush nor disrupt ordinary commerce. Once the RBI fails to recieve any of the old notes for say 6 months (meaning it has gone out of normal circulation and rest is hoarded) it can announce the old notes invalid and to be exchanged. It would have very little impact on ordinary life while flushing out the hoarded high valued notes.

[Rammpal]

In retrospect, the choice of Rs. 2,000 as the new denomination seems to have been a mistake. Had the Govt printed new notes in Rs. 200 or Rs. 250 denomination, the shortage of cash in the market would have been considerably less.

After December 30th, the Govt should bring out new notes in Rs 200 or Rs 250 denomination, and not in Rs 1,000 denomination. No more Rs. 2,000 notes should be printed. Wherever cash transactions are legitimately needed in the economy, notes in denominations upto Rs. 500 are sufficient. Higher denominations will end up hoarded in the black economy again.

JMHO

yes this is the only question I had about the exercise. Will be much harder to hoard 200 or 250 Rs notes. Just stop printing 500 and 1000 notes and print 250. It can still be done. That's the beauty of demonetisation at this stage - we can learn and adapt and make it even better. But ATMs will have to be recalibrated again.

What if that is indeed The plan.
Entice potential hoarders into this twilight zone, vis-a-vis, fact that 2k note is a lot easier to squirrel away.
Would they folks take that chance, given the agony they're going through now ?

[Gus]

I have an octagenarian aunt who, I am told had a biggish stash of cash that cannot otherwise be explained. I mean that she has a PAN number and is in the IT network but has rental income in cash that has not been declared for many years. I suspect she is set to lose 90%. .

if she was always below the slab, can she not claim that this big stash is an accumulation of 'below the slab' money over a decade or something?

[Gus]

Opposition is too late in organizing the bandh on Monday. The worst is already over and with most of the business interested in getting back into the economy flow, Calling a Bandh now sounds like a stupid move. Except for Kerala and Bengal, I dont see this bandh being even making bit of impact anywhere else.

too late? what to do saar...they were too busy worrying about what to do with their stash and running after options that turned useless.

plus, old money is invalid and where is the new money to give to protestors?

[Philip]

True.Lanka some years ago introduced a plastic 200 Rs. note which was v.popular.The problem has been that there is a max production capacity for notes and hence the need for 2000 Re. notes to beef up cash in people's pockets.Imagine if only new 1000 Re. notes had been printed.The situ would've been even worse! The fundamental mistake that the GOI made was not to have published in every paper and on telly,radio,etc. the places where old notes could be used.We still don't have a decision on pvt. hospitals which is sadistic when people are sick.How many patients can our poorly equipped and manned govt. hospitals admit and care for?

Each day brings a statement and counter-statement.Just one example. A retd. IT commissioner on what's app says that you can pay your advance tax with old notes quoting some rule.Others disagree.There is no official voice on the issue. This has been an enormous exercise that was very shabbily planned and when you see the enormous suffering of the ordinary man ,the Opposition who describe it as a "Financial Emergency"",have a debatable point.

Secondly to simply call anyone anti-national who points out the flaws in the execution of the Modi master-plan is ridiculous.Comment is free in India.To harbour such an attitude is a step towards a police state. The press-ganging of thousands of retd. Income Tax officers is a sure sign that the days of the "raid raj" will return,but the big sharks ,politicos and babus who "hoard" cash would'be escaped long ago using their contacts and pvt. armies who have spread the loot well. I know of only one individual who said that he burnt some of his loot.

[shiv]

too late? what to do saar...they were too busy worrying about what to do with their stash and running after options that turned useless.

An hour ago I heard a suggestion from Derek O'Brien in parliament - let old and new 500 notes run concurrently

That means that the biggest hoarders will hold on to their cash till the last possible moment hoping that protests and pressure will make the govt change its stand