A lot of people who are tax evaders or bribe takers or career criminals do their business in cash , avoiding a paper trail . This means instead of using banks , they have mounds of physical cash hidden away somewhere . By requiring people to trade in high denomination bills , it puts those lawbreakers in a bad spot . Either their cash becomes worthless , or they have to risk exposing themselves to exchange it for the new bills . If you are a petty government officials who has been squirreling away bribes of years , and suddenly you lose that nest egg , you and others are going to think twice about requiring bribes in the future . It is kind of a big deal , because corruption is deeply embedded in Indian society , and elected officials usually lack the courage to do anything about it , as they fear not being reelected or they are taking bribes themselves .