Currency printing presses running at full capacity: RBI

'There is ample time for people to exchange old notes; no need put avoidable strain on banks'

A scene outside at the Reserve Bank of India office in Bengaluru on on Friday. Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Currency printing presses are running at “full capacity” to sustain demand for new notes, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Saturday. The central bank also asked people to switch to other modes of payment, such as debit and credit cards to reduce strain on bank branches.

Adequate stock of all currency notes has been kept ready at more than 4,000 locations across the country, and bank branches are linked to them for sourcing their requirements, the RBI said.

The RBI said the scrapping of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes has cast a huge responsibility on the banking system to “swiftly withdraw” the currency in a smooth and non-disruptive way and to provide new notes of other denominations.

It also entailed swift withdrawal of the scrapped notes from ATMs within a few hours of the announcement made on evening of November 8 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

‘Avoidable strain’ The bank said there is ample time for people to exchange their old notes. It said there was no need put “avoidable strain” on bank branches.

A detailed reporting system for banks has been put in place, it said, adding that the authorities are “closely monitoring the information received through the reports about exchange and deposits”.