india

Updated: Dec 22, 2016 12:51 IST

A standing committee of Parliament will grill officials of the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday over demonetisation of high value notes and the related flip flops.

The RBI has drawn flak for changing rules — 60 orders in 42 days since demonetisation — leading to confusion over deposit and withdrawal norms.

RBI governor Urjit Patel will not appear at the meeting of the finance related standing committee of Parliament. Other RBI officials will represent him at the meeting of the committee of which former prime minister Manmohan Singh is a member.

Members are expected to seek clarity from the RBI on quantum of money that was in circulation in Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination. Several government leaders have given different figures, ranging between Rs 14 and Rs 15.44 lakh crore, creating confusion about the exact amount in high value notes that were in circulation on November 8.

The current status of how much of this has returned to the bank is not known.

Earlier, RBI deputy governor R Gandhi said Rs 12.4 lakh crore of the scrapped notes have been deposited in banks till December 10.

That was far more that the government’s estimate of Rs 10 lakh crore that would accrue to banks through demonetisation, as mentioned in its submission before the Supreme Court.

The committee members will also grill the RBI about the measures it took to minimize the impact of demonetisation and hardship faced by people.

The central bank has been criticized for coming out with several orders, averaging more than one a day, that created confusion. Members are expected to pull up the bank for this.

Read | In Parliament and Supreme Court, questions over demonetisation singe govt