RBI Website Down After 500, 1000, 2000 Notes Announcement by PM Narendra Modi

PM Narendra Modi took everyone by surprise by announcing that Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes will no longer be legal tender from Wednesday. New Rs. 2000 and Rs. 500 notes will be introduced, but there will be a transition period. Many have been turning to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to figure out the fine-print of how the exact process will roll out. There's just one problem - the RBI website seems to have crumbled under the load.

Multiple attempts to access the RBI  website by Gadgets 360 since Tuesday evening have been greeted by the "Cannot find server" message, which indicates the RBI website cannot handle the heavy demand. "It's not just you! http://rbi.org.in looks down from here," a popular website status checker indicates as well. Now, sure, this can also be the result of a scheduled maintenance, but you would typically see a "This website is under maintenance" kind of a message from a website like the RBI, instead of an error message like this.

While we wait for the RBI website to be accessible again, here's some basic information about the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes that became clear from PM Narendra Modi's speech on Tuesday.

What you need to do with your Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes:

• Deposit them at the bank or post office from November 10 to December 30
• Exchange them from a bank or post office till 24 November. The limit for exchange is Rs. 4000
• Take Aadhaar card and Pan Card when you go to exchange notes
• After December 30, these can be deposited at the Reserve Bank with a declaration
• Tourists can change the notes at airports

Your Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes be accepted till November 11 at:

• Petrol Pumps and government hospitals
• Railway, airline, government bus ticket booking counters
• Consumer co-operative stores run by state or central government
• Milk booths authorised by state governments
• Crematoriums and burial grounds

Will Rs. 500, Rs. 1000 notes demonetisation sway Indians away from cash? We discuss this on Orbital: The Gadgets 360 Podcast. You can either subscribe to via iTunes or RSS or just hit the play button below.