Following the cancellation of legal tender character of old banknotes of high denomination, to minimize the inconvenience to public, telephone helplines has been set up by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) have been uploaded from time to time. Various Notifications and Press Releases, in connection with withdrawal of legal tender character of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 denominations, have been issued by the Government and the Reserve Bank of India which are available at finmin.nic.in and rbi.org.in.
Various steps have been taken to popularise cashless transactions viz.,
Waiving the MDR charges till 31.12.2016 by the banks to promote greater use of Debit cards,
reducing the USSD charges by TRAI from the current Rs. 1.50 per session to Rs. 0.50 per session for transactions relating to Banking and Payments and waiver of the same by the telecom companies until December 31, 2016,
not to levy service charge of Rs. 20 for second class and Rs. 40 for upper classes on purchase of reserved E-tickets upto 31st December, 2016 and encouraging public to use balances in bank accounts to pay for their requirements by cheque or through electronic means of payments such as Internet banking, mobile wallets, IMPS, credit/debit cards etc. Further, all Government organizations, public sector undertakings and other Government authorities have been advised to promote the use of digital payment methods. Further details are available at finmin.nic.in.
It has been decided to print banknotes based on plastic/polymer substrate. The process of procurement has been initiated.