Demonetisation: Currency withdrawal and exchange rules explained in five graphs

The demonetisation exercise has been on for more than a week now and the move has resulted in acute cash crunch in the system, thereby putting not just the commom man but even bank staff in greater trouble. [caption id=“attachment_3101144” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  People queued outside an ATM. PTI[/caption] Following the decision to ban high value currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 came into effect starting 8 November mid-night, the government has changed its withdrawal and exchange limits multltiple times. The frequent changes made to the guidelines is adding to the confusion of the customers. The new guidelines and the banks’ own limits, apart from increasing the friction between the consumer and the banks, will only inconvenience the customer. The friction between the customer and the bank staff will only heighten. The government’s flip-flops also reinforces the public perception that the process was initiated with no preparation whatsoever. The government has been saying that no large-scale preparation could have been done as any such move would have resulted in spilling the beans. Even if, for argument sake one believes this, it cannot justify the messy implementation, resulting in nearly 50 deaths. Below is the graphical representation made to highlight the date and changes to withdrawal and exchange limits announced by the government.