Nearly 98 pc Rs 2,000 banknotes returned; Rs 6,970 crore worth notes still with public   

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said 98.04 per cent of the Rs 2,000 banknotes have been returned to the banking system, and only Rs 6,970 crore worth such notes are still with the public.

On May 19, 2023, the RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes from circulation.

The total value of Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023. It has declined to Rs 6,970 crore at the close of business on October 31, 2024, the RBI said.

“Thus, 98.04 per cent of the Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023, has since been returned,” it said in a statement.

The facility for deposit and/or exchange of the Rs 2,000 banknotes was available at all bank branches till October 7, 2023. However, this facility is still available at the 19 issue offices of the Reserve Bank.

From October 9, 2023, the RBI issue offices are also accepting Rs 2,000 banknotes from individuals and entities for deposit into their bank accounts.

Further, members of the public can also send Rs 2000 banknotes through India Post from any post office within the country to any of the RBI issue offices for credit to their bank accounts.

The 19 RBI offices depositing/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.

The Rs 2000 banknotes were introduced in November 2016, following the demonetisation of the then-prevailing Rs 1000 and Rs 500 banknotes.