New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a clarification on the status of Rs 2,000 notes, which were demonetized in 2023, and said that they are still legal tender and can be exchanged or deposited at its regional offices across the country.
The RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes from circulation on May 19, 2023, as part of its efforts to curb black money, counterfeit currency, and terror financing. The move came four years after the previous demonetization of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes in 2016, which had caused widespread chaos and inconvenience to the public.
The RBI had given the public the option to exchange or deposit their Rs 2,000 notes in banks or post offices till September 30, 2023, and later extended the deadline to October 7, 2023. After that, the notes could only be exchanged or deposited at 19 RBI offices in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, and Thiruvananthapuram.
The RBI said that as of December 29, 2023, the total value of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation had come down to Rs 9,330 crore, from Rs 3.56 lakh crore on May 19, 2023. This means that 97.38 percent of the Rs 2,000 notes had returned to the banking system.
The RBI also said that the Rs 2,000 notes had not been rendered useless and that they were still legal tender. However, their general circulation had been stopped, and they could only be exchanged or deposited at its regional offices. The RBI also said that people could send their Rs 2,000 notes from any post office to any RBI office through India Post to deposit them in their bank accounts.
The RBI’s clarification came on the first day of the new year, i.e. January 1, 2024, amid confusion and rumors about the status of the Rs 2,000 notes. The RBI urged the public to ignore any misinformation and to contact its offices for any queries or assistance.
