The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said that nearly 97.69% of the ₹2000 banknotes have returned to the banking system.
On May 19, 2023, the RBI announced the withdrawal of ₹2,000 denomination bank notes from circulation. The ₹2,000 banknotes continue to be legal tender.
“The total value of ₹2000 banknotes in circulation, which was ₹3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, when the withdrawal of ₹2,000 banknotes was announced, has declined to ₹8202 crore at the close of business on March 29, 2024,” the central bank said in a statement.
“Thus, 97.69 per cent of the ₹2,000 banknotes in circulation as of May 19, 2023, has since been returned,” it added.
People can deposit and/or exchange ₹2,000 bank notes at 19 RBI offices across the country. People can also send ₹2,000 bank notes through India Post from any post office to any of the RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts in India.
The 19 RBI offices depositing/exchanging the bank notes are in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna and Thiruvananthapuram.
Public and private entities holding such notes were initially asked to either exchange or deposit them in bank accounts by September 30, 2023. The deadline was later extended to October 7, 2023.
Deposit and exchange services at bank branches were discontinued on October 7, 2023. From October 8, 2023, individuals were provided with the choice of either exchanging the currency or having the equivalent sum credited to their bank accounts at the 19 offices of the RBI.
When were ₹2,000 banknotes introduced?
The RBI introduced ₹2,000 banknotes in November 2016 after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes in circulation.
