[varunvkrishnan]

"I am confused with the article though. What would have been a successful result? That the all canceled currencies wouldn't have been exchanged or deposited?"

Yes - exactly - the assumption earlier was that a significant amount of money stored with the denominations that were de-monetised was "black"/unaccounted money. And this would not be deposited into banks due to fear of being scrutinized. If this had happened on a large scale and if the money had not been deposited - the liability of the exchequer would have reduced.

[thisisit]

That is assuming the whole stuff was done for the singular goal in mind. There could have been multiple reasons: a. End counterfeit money b. Make a list of hoarders as everyone depositing money needed to show identification.

It is going to be interesting times ahead with the data they might have collected.