BJP MP Sushil Modi on why ₹2,000 currency note should be phased out

Claiming that ₹2,000 currency note is being used for terror funding, drug trafficking and hoarding black money, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday demanded its gradual phase out. He added that citizens holding the currency notes should be given two years to exchange them.

Modi raised the issue in the Zero Hour of the Rajya Sabha, noting that the ₹2000 denomination note should be phased out in a gradual manner.

"While the ₹2,000 currency note was introduced by the RBI to replace the demonetised ₹500 and ₹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," news agency ANI quoted Modi as saying.

Citing examples of developed countries like the US and Japan, the BJP lawmaker 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 ₹2,000," Modi said during the Zero Hour.

(With inputs from ANI)