Is it true that IAF raised bills worth 294 cr for transporting cash after note ban?

Preeti Taneja

Entrepreneur | Posted on 9-Jul-2018

Indian Air Force (IAF) confirmed that it has billed the Bharatiya Bank Note Mudran Private Ltd. and the government-owned Security Printing and Mining Corporation of India a whopping 29.41 cr for the use of IAF’s high-end transport aircraft, the C-130J Super Hercules and the C-17. As per IAF’s response, their two aircraft took on 91 sorties for the transportation of bundles of newly printed Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 notes from mints and security printing presses to various destinations in the country. The response from IAF came as a result of the Right to Information (RTI) raised by a retired Commodore Lokesh Batra.

But, the question is – was it necessary for the government to use defense asset? The government could have called for the services of the civil transport aircraft. The money that the IAF has charged the government is going to be paid from the taxpayers’ money and this entire situation could have been avoided if only the government was prepared before making the hasty decision of demonetizing currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000.

The efficacy of the note ban move by the government is also questionable. The decision was made in order to curb corruption and black money, but as much as 99% of the junked Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 notes have been returned to the banking system, as per reports given out by the RBI or the banker’s bank. In fact, RBI faced a collateral damage in all of this and its income seemed to have decreased and expenditure increased since note ban.