The Reserve Bank of India on Friday stated that 97.26 per cent of the Rs 2,000 banknotes have been returned to the baking system. It further said the Rs 2,000 notes, which were in circulation till May 19 this year, continue to be legal tender.
Rs 2000 banknotes still in circulation
The central bank also said that about 2.7 per cent of Rs 2,000 banknotes are still in circulation, about two months after the deadline to deposit or exchange them at bank branches is over. The last day for the public to avail of exchange or to deposit high-value Rs 2000 banknotes at the banks was October 7.
"The total value of Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, the date on which RBI decided to withdraw the banknote. As of November 30, it was at Rs 9,760 crore," the RBI said in a release.
Notably, the window for depositing and/or exchanging the Rs 2,000 banknotes continues to be available at the 19 issue offices of the RBI.
These 19 RBI issue offices are:
- Ahmedabad
- Bangalore
- Belapur
- Bhopal
- Bhubaneswar
- Chandigarh
- Chennai
- Guwahati
- Hyderabad
- Jaipur
- Jammu
- Kanpur
- Kolkata
- Lucknow
- Mumbai
- Nagpur
- New Delhi
- Patna
- Thiruvananthapuram
What was RBI's guidelines for Rs 2000 notes?
People from within the country can send Rs 2000 banknotes through India Post from any post office in the country to any of the RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts in India. September 30 was initially decided as the last date to complete the exchange and deposit exercise in a time-bound manner and to provide adequate time to the public. People were requested to utilise the month of September to deposit or exchange their Rs 2000 banknotes to avoid any rush at the last moment.
However, the RBI, based on a review, decided to extend the arrangement for deposit and exchange until October 7, 2023. The Rs 2000 banknote was introduced in November 2016, primarily to meet the currency requirements of the economy expeditiously after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes in circulation at that time.
(With inputs from ANI)
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