Banks should supply 40% notes of Rs 500 or less to rural areas: RBI

Distribution can be worked out by checking district level current and savings account data

After the government nudged banks to focus on rural areas, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday instructed the lenders that at least 40 per cent of bank notes should go to villages, in denomination of Rs 500 or below.
 
So far, the notes, being supplied by banks in those areas, “are not commensurate with the requirements of rural population”, a notification at the central bank’s website said.
 
Therefore, banks maintaining currency chests should immediately step up issuance of fresh notes to rural branches of regional rural banks, district cooperative banks, other commercial banks, White Label ATM