Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes in 2016, every now and then, rumours have spread regarding the withdrawal of the new Rs 2,000 notes as well.
Several messages and reports are currently doing the rounds on social media suggesting that the Reserve Bank of India has "decided" to recall Rs 2000 notes and roll out Rs 1,000 notes starting January 1, 2020.
There is also talk that you will not be able to exchange your Rs 2,000 notes after December 31, 2019, and that you cannot exchange more than Rs 50,000 at a time. As a result, more small traders have started turning down Rs 2000 notes from customers.
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Moreover, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg's recent tweet added fuel to the fire. The rumour-mongers took this as an opportunity to spread fake news. Garg tweeted about people hoarding the new currency notes as black money. He said, “A good chunk of Rs 2000 banknotes, which account for approximately a third of India’s currency notes by value, are actually not in circulation but have been hoarded.” He also suggested that such high-value notes can be banned without any objection.
However, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) cleared the air by putting out a tweet recently. It turns out that all the reports are fake! Hence, if you come across any such information, do not believe or spread it.
The PIB had tweeted that there has been no such announcement by the central bank so far. It further clarified that the government is not planning to release Rs 1,000 banknotes.
If you come across any information about RBI announcements and you are not sure whether to believe it or not, you can directly go to the RBI website and check for yourself.
As soon as you open the website, under the 'What's new' section you will find a list of all the latest announcements made by the central bank. If you don't find any piece of information you saw on social media in the announcements list, then you can be sure it is a rumour.