The Central Reserve Bank has extended the deadline for exchange and deposit of Rs 2000 notes from September 30, 2023, to October 7, 2023. According to the statement issued by RBI, from May to September 29, Rs 2000 notes worth about Rs 3.42 lakh crore were returned to the banks. This accounts for 96 per cent of the currency in circulation in this denomination. Let us tell you that in May, the Reserve Bank announced the withdrawal of Rs 2000 note.
What Will Happen After October 7?
In a statement issued by the Reserve Bank, it has been said that after the end of the new deadline, i.e. from October 8, 2023, the process of depositing/exchanging Rs 2000 banknotes will be stopped. In such a situation, if you have Rs 2000 notes, they may remain just a piece of paper.
Banknotes of Rs 2,000 can be exchanged up to a maximum of Rs 20,000 at a time. You can also send Rs 2000 bank notes through India Post to 19 offices of the Reserve Bank. ₹2000 banknotes can be deposited at any of these offices without limit.
Complain if the bank refuses: If any bank refuses to exchange Rs 2000 bank notes or accept deposits till October 7, you can complain about it on the Reserve Bank’s website. If the bank fails to respond within 30 days of filing the complaint or the complainant remains dissatisfied with the bank’s response or resolution, the customer can pursue this process. The customer can complain to the Ombudsman of the Reserve Bank.
Why Are Notes Being Withdrawn?
At the time of demonetisation in November 2016, banknotes of Rs 2000 denomination were introduced under Section 24(1) of the RBI Act, 1934. Its purpose was to quickly meet the currency requirements of the economy after all the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes in circulation were demonetised. Having achieved this objective and given the strong presence of other denominations of bank notes, the minting of Rs 2000 bank notes was discontinued in 2018-19.
These factors are responsible: According to the RBI website, most of the Rs 2000 notes were issued before March 2017 and have reached the end of their estimated life of 4-5 years. In such a situation, notes are being removed from the market under the clean note policy. It has also been observed that people use less notes of this denomination now.
Moreover, the stock of banknotes of other denominations remains sufficient to meet the currency needs of the public. Given all this, the Reserve Bank had said to withdraw Rs 2000 notes on May 19, 2023. Along with this, the Reserve Bank also gave people the option to exchange or deposit their notes. The deadline was September 30, but it has now been extended to October 7.
