72% of Rs 2,000 notes deposited, exchanged in banks after withdrawal decision: RBI

A month after announcing the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes from circulation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Saturday said 72 per cent of the pink notes (around Rs 2.62 lakh crore) has been deposited or exchanged in the banks.

The Reserve Bank of India on May 19 announced its decision to withdraw Rs 2,000 notes from circulation. However, the RBI asked citizens to exchange them at banks by September 30.

The central bank had also said in order to ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, exchange of Rs 2,000 notes into notes of other denominations can be made upto a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any branch starting from May 23.

In a circular issued by it last month, the RBI said, “In pursuance of the Clean Note Policy of the Reserve Bank of India, it has been decided to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes from circulation. The banknotes in Rs 2,000 denomination will continue to be legal tender.”

About 89 per cent of the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes were issued prior to March 2017 and are at the end of their estimated life-span of 4 to 5 years, the RBI said in a notification.

“To complete the exercise in a time-bound manner and to provide adequate time to the members of public, all banks shall provide deposit and/or exchange facility for Rs 2,000 banknotes until September 30, 2023,” added the bank of banks.