On May 19, 2023, the date on which RBI decided to withdraw the Rs 2000 banknote, the total value of Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business.
Deadline For Rs 2000 Notes: Saturday, October 7, was the last day for the public exchange or deposit of high-value Rs 2000 banknotes at the banks. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das had said a day before the deadline that only about Rs 12,000 crore (or 3.37 per cent) of the currency notes remained in circulation, which means that over 96 per cent of the total value of Rs 2,000 banknotes were back in the banking system. Now after the deadline is over, the final update from the RBI is yet to be notified.
Now the question arises, what will happen to those who have not yet deposited or exchanged Rs 2000 banknotes?
According to the RBI, Rs 2000 banknotes can be exchanged by individuals or entities at 19 RBI Issue Offices up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time or can tender Rs 2000 banknotes for credit to their bank accounts in India for any amount else people within the country can also send Rs 2000 banknotes through India Post, addressed to any of the 19 RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts in India.
Those 19 RBI Issue Offices are in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, and Thiruvananthapuram.
On May 19, 2023, the date on which RBI decided to withdraw the Rs 2000 banknote, the total value of Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business.
September 30 was initially decided as the last date for the purpose of completing 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.
RBI, on September 30, based on a review, decided to extend the arrangement for deposit and exchange till October 7, 2023.
With effect from October 8, 2023, banks shall stop accepting Rs 2000 banknotes for credit to accounts or exchange to other denomination banknotes, RBI had said.
RBI initially decided to withdraw the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation on May 19 but said it would continue to remain as legal tender, however, it advised banks to stop issuing such banknotes with immediate effect.
The Rs 2000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016 after demonetisation in which Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes in circulation were withdrawn and ceased to be legal tenders.