No need to rush: 10 things finance minister Jaitley said about demonetisation

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday it would take time for banks to make changes to ATMs to dispense the new bank notes as millions of people lined up at branches to get cash.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday it would take time for banks to make changes to ATMs to dispense the new banknotes as millions of people lined up at branches to get cash.

Finance minister Narendra Modi said ATMs had not been calibrated before the announcement to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to maintain secrecy. (Sushil Kumar/HT Photo)

Read: It’s a massive operation; ATM recalibration will take 2-3 weeks, says Jaitley

He said ATMs had not been calibrated before the announcement to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to maintain secrecy. “It is a massive operation, it will take time.”

Here are 10 things Jaitley said in his speech:

1) Don’t rush to banks right now for exchanging or withdrawing old Rs 500 or Rs 1000 notes as there are massive crowds. Wait for a few days as the scheme is open till December 30.

Read: 21 ways to check if your new Rs 2000, Rs 500 notes are real

3) The government couldn’t calibrate ATMs before the currency withdrawal scheme was announced because it would compromise the secrecy of the move.

4) Customers shouldn’t demand a choice of currency at the banks because there may be a shortage. They should accept whatever currency they are getting.

5) The government will monitor any Jan Dhan accounts with suspicious activity and gold traders transacting in old currency.

Read: Rs 500, Rs 1000 notes scrapped: 25 things RBI wants you to know

6) The banking system is fully equipped to deal with the currency shake-up. The State Bank of India has received Rs 47,868 crore in deposits since the withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was announced on Tuesday. Total deposits in all the banks must be around Rs 2-2.25 lakh crore.

7) The bankers are doing a good job. The SBI alone has conducted 22.8 million transactions after demonetization. The total number of transactions must be five times that number.

8) People should move more and more to cashless transactions as they make life simple.

9) Some new 500 notes have already been introduced in the market, the rest will be done soon.

10) GPS chip in Rs 2000 note, reports of digital lockers are rumours.