Whenever major sweeping changes are made in an existing system, some myths and rumours are bound to be floated around too – partly because of the ignorance of the masses and partly because of a tendency of a section of people to create confusion and panic. The Modi government’s recent Demonetization move is no exception! Prominent stories that have been doing the round over the past twelve days are:
1. Demonetisation would be done for the Rs 100 and 50 notes too.
No such move was either conceived or announced.
2. Bank lockers would be sealed and gold/diamond jewelry
The Finance Ministry was quick to clarify that there was no such step planned.
3. The new currency notes that have been circulated have been designed to have chips on them which would help identify people who have black money.
This was imagination at its height! No such technique was implemented.
4. The colour of the new 2000 note just bleeds away.
Not at all. The 2000 note uses what is known as ‘intaglio ‘ You can test it by rubbing it with a cloth – the result is a ‘turbo-electric effect.’ This causes the colour to run on the cloth. Hence the misconception.
5. All customers will be marked with indelible ink for every withdrawal.
No – customers were in fact marked only for exchange of old notes; not for the withdrawals.
6. The Indian economy is not equipped to handle this process of the digital economy as not many people have bank accounts.
The truth is that ever since the Indian government announced the ‘Jan Dhan’ scheme in 2014, there have been more than 2.5 crore bank accounts – even if we were to assume that every family has four to five people, almost every family seems to have been covered by bank accounts.
The biggest rumour of course came two days ago, with a panic wave that almost threatened to disrupt the peace of mind! The Social Media got flooded by a message that from April 1, 2017 all properties would be invalid for one year. All properties would be linked to the E Property Pass Book or the EPPB, which would further be linked to PAN and Aadhar online.
The message further went on to say that unless property got registered n the EPPB, it would not be said to belong to the owner legally. The panic factor being that from April 1, 2018, the government would take over all properties not listed there.
It took only a day however for the Finance Ministry to declare that there was no Government authentication for this news and that it was all a fake message!
Beware – in the process of changing the 500 and 1000 notes, people are changing facts too. Keep a watch on our website – we are striving to keep your interests protected and bring you the latest, authentic news so that you can contribute positively to the change in the economy, rather than be victims of fake news.
The current demonetisation is unprecedented and historic . Notifications and updates are coming in daily . While we are trying our best to bring you the most accurate and updated Information on this subject it is a possibility that by the time we relay the information it might have been changed. Please verify from the official site of RBI before taking any action (https://www.rbi.org.in/)