Bhubaneswar: The ‘illegal’ exchange of Rs 2,000 currency notes at the regional office of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Odisha capital by random people allegedly hired on commission has come under the scanner of the Income Tax Department.
According to sources, IT officials held a meeting on Wednesday over the long queues in front of the RBI office here for the last two days, with almost each of them exchanging notes amounting to a maximum of Rs 20,000. It is being alleged that some individuals are engaging people from slums and nearby areas to get the discontinued currency exchanged for a meager commission of around Rs 200–300.
This came to the department’s attention after a two-member team of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) questioned those having queued up in front of the RBI here and found that it could possibly be a matter of tax evasion.
Another meeting of IT officials is likely on Thursday to decide the further course of action, the sources added.
Meanwhile, the RBI has requested that people who still possess Rs 2000 banknotes avail themselves of the facility of sending Rs 2,000 banknotes through the post offices of India Post. “The window for depositing and/or exchanging the Rs 2000 banknotes continues to be available at the 19 issue offices of the RBI,” the central bank said in a statement.
It further said that these notes continue to be legal tender, but only Rs 10,000 crore worth of them are in circulation.
The central bank, which announced the withdrawal of the currency in May this year, added that more than 97 percent of the bank-notes had been returned.