RBI withdraws Rs 2000 notes from circulation
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday, May 19, said it has decided to withdraw the Rs 2000 denomination bank notes from circulation. However, the Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes will continue to be legal tender.
Also, the public may deposit Rs 2,000 notes into their bank accounts or exchange them for notes of other denominations at any bank branch.
In order to ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, the RBI said exchange of Rs 2,000 bank notes into banknotes of other denominations can be made up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23, 2023.
Besides, the facility for the exchange of Rs 2,000 bank notes up to the limit of Rs 20,000 at a time will be provided at the 19 Regional Offices (ROs) of the RBI having issue departments from May 23.
The Rs 2,000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016, primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes that were in circulation at that time.
The objective of introducing Rs 2,000 banknotes was met once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities. Therefore, the printing of Rs 2,000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-19, RBI said.
About 89 percent of the Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes were issued prior to March 2017 and are at the end of their estimated life span of 4-5 years. The total value of these banknotes in circulation has declined from Rs 6.73 lakh crore at its peak of March 31, 2018 (37.3 percent of notes in circulation) to Rs 3.62 lakh crore constituting only 10.8 percent of notes in circulation on March 31, 2023, the apex bank added.