GUWAHATI: The reserve bank of India (RBI) has decided to withdraw Rs 2000 currency notes from circulation.
This was informed by the reserve bank of India (RBI) on Friday (May 19) evening.
However, the currency notes of Rs 2000 denomination will continue to be legal tender.
Furthermore, the RBI has advised banks to stop issuing Rs 2000 denomination banknotes with immediate effect.
“…it has been decided to withdraw the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation,” the RBI informed in a statement.
RBI said the public can exchange their Rs 2000 denomination notes at banks on or before September 30, 2023.
“Members of the public can continue to use Rs 2000 banknotes for their transactions and also receive them in payment. However, they are encouraged to deposit and/or exchange these notes on or before September 30, 2023,” said RBI.
“About 89% of the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes were issued prior to March 2017 and are at the end of their estimated life-span of 4-5 years,” the RBI said.
It added: “The total value of these banknotes in circulation has declined from Rs 6.73 lakh crore at its peak as on March 31, 2018 (37.3% of notes in circulation) to Rs 3.62 lakh crore constituting only 10.8% of notes in circulation on March 31, 2023.”
“It has also been observed that this denomination is not commonly used for transactions. Further, the stock of banknotes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public,” RBI said in a statement.
“The objective of introducing Rs 2000 banknotes were met once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities,” RBI said in a statement.
In order to ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, exchange of Rs 2000 banknotes into banknotes of other denominations can be made upto a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23, 2023.