Sushil Modi urges Centre to ban Rs 2,000 note, cites 'illegitimate' usage

Bharatiya Janata Party Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Modi on Monday underlined the need for the withdrawal of Rs 2000 currency note in the country, claiming its usage for 'illegitimate activities'. Modi raised the issue in the Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, noting that the Rs 2000 denomination note should be phased out in a gradual manner.

Speaking to ANI, Modi said, "While the Rs 2000 note was introduced by RBI to replace the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes at a faster pace in 2016, their printing has stopped in the last three years owing to several challenges associated with the circulation. There is information that people have hoarded it and it is being used for terror funding, drug trafficking and hoarding black money."

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Citing examples of developed countries like the US and Japan, the BJP MP said they do not have currency above 100 and therefore the Centre should think about banning it.

"If we look at major developed economies like the US, China, Germany and Japan, they do not have any currency above 100. So the Central government should think about it and ban it in a phased manner so that people have time to replace it with other smaller denominations," he said.

Modi, while raising the issue in Rajya Sabha, noted that the European Union (EU) discontinued 500 euro notes in 2018 and Singapore stopped issuing USD 10,000 notes in 2010 to curb illegal activities of drug trafficking, money laundering, terror funding and tax evasion etc.

"Since India is also becoming a hub for digital transactions which also entail settlements of larger amounts, there is limited need for having a high-denomination currency note of Rs 2,000," Modi said during the Zero Hour.

Sushil Modi urged the Centre to gradually phase out the Rs 2,000 note within a stipulated time period so that the people can convert their legitimate holdings of the note into lower-denomination notes.