Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Thursday, February 1, that nearly 97.5 percent of the Rs 2,000 bank notes have been returned to the banking system, and only about Rs.8,897 crore worth of the withdrawn notes are still with the public.
On May 19, 2023, the RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 bank notes from circulation.
“The total value of Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation, which was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, when the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 banknotes was announced, has declined to Rs 8,897 crore at the close of business on January 31, 2024,” the RBI said in a statement.
Thus, 97.5 percent of the Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation as of May 19, 2023, have since been returned, it added.
People can deposit and/or exchange Rs 2,000 bank notes at the 19 RBI offices across the country. People can also send Rs 2,000 in 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 public and 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.
Starting October 8, 2023, individuals will have the choice of either exchanging the currency or having the equivalent sum credited to their bank accounts at the 19 offices of the RBI.
The 19 RBI offices depositing and exchanging 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.
The Rs 2,000 bank notes were introduced in November 2016, following the demonetization of the then-prevailing Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 bank notes.
