Just to add to your comment, the highest denomination note in India is worth just $1.5USD.

According to the Global Findex by the World Bank [1] 47% of the Indian population doesn't have a bank account. And only 22% of the population have debit cards.

I don't know, this seems too extreme to me. Certainly 500 euro notes or 100 dollar bills are very useful in dark markets, but the Rs 1000 note was just worth $15USD. This may end up being just a temporary recall and they will reissue 500/1000 notes in a couple of years.

[1] http://datatopics.worldbank.org/financialinclusion/country/i...