 "RBI, Reserve Bank of India")
In a significant development, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that 97.76% of the Rs 2,000 currency notes in circulation have returned to the banking system. Only Rs 7,961 crore worth of the withdrawn notes are still with the public.
According to the RBI's statement, the total value of Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation has declined from Rs 3.56 lakh crore on 19 May 2023 to just Rs 7,961 crore as of 30 April 2024.
Continued legality
Despite the announcement of withdrawal, Rs 2,000 banknotes are still considered legal tender, allowing individuals to use them for transactions, provided that the receiving party accepts them.
Timeline of the Rs 2,000 note
The Rs 2,000 banknotes were introduced in November 2016 following the demonetisation of the then-prevailing Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 banknotes. The move was aimed at meeting the currency demands at the time. However, the printing of Rs 2,000 banknotes was discontinued in the fiscal year 2018-19 once sufficient quantities of banknotes in other denominations became available.
Deposit and exchange
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up procedures for the public to deposit or exchange Rs 2,000 banknotes during the transition period. These services are accessible at 19 RBI offices nationwide. Moreover, individuals have the alternative to use India Post to send Rs 2,000 banknotes to any RBI Issue Office for crediting to their bank accounts in India.
Designated RBI offices
The 19 RBI offices depositing or exchanging the banknotes are in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, and Thiruvananthapuram.
