98.12% of ₹2,000 notes returned to banks: worth ₹6,691 crore still with public, reports RBI

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu):The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced on Wednesday that 98.12 percent of the ₹2,000 banknotes withdrawn from circulation have been returned to the banking system.

According to the central bank, as of December 31, 2024, only ₹6,691 crore worth of ₹2,000 notes remain with the public. This marks a significant decline from the total value of ₹3.56 lakh crore in circulation when the notes were demonetised on May 19, 2023. “Therefore, 98.12 percent of the ₹2,000 banknotes in circulation as of May 19, 2023, have been returned,” the RBI stated in its release, as per a reliable source.

The facility for exchanging or depositing ₹2,000 notes was available at all bank branches until October 7, 2023. However, individuals and entities can still deposit these notes at any of the 19 issue offices of the RBI. Since October 9, 2023, the RBI has also allowed the public to send the notes via India Post to any RBI issue office for credit to their bank accounts. Despite being withdrawn from circulation, ₹2,000 notes continue to be legal tender. The RBI’s 19 issue offices accepting these notes are located in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, and Thiruvananthapuram. The ₹2,000 denomination banknotes were first introduced in November 2016 after the demonetisation of ₹1,000 and ₹500 notes.