On Friday, 19th May, the Reserve Bank of India decided to withdraw the 2000 Rs currency notes from circulation under the ‘Clean Note Policy’. The banknotes will continue to be legal tender. In a circular released about the same, the RBI also said, “To complete the exercise in a time-bound manner, and to provide adequate time to the members of the public, all banks shall provide deposit and/or exchange facility for 2000 Rs banknotes until 30th September, 2023”.
The RBI has asked all the banks to stop issuing 2000 Rs notes with immediate effect, and the exchange of these banknotes into notes of other denominations can be made up to a limit of 20, 000 Rupees at a time, starting from May 23rd, 2023.
As per the RBI, the purpose of these banknotes was fulfilled once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities.
The 2000 Rs banknotes were introduced in November, 2016 under Section 24(1) of the RBI Act, 1934 to meet the currency requirement of the economy after the legal tender status of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes was withdrawn. Further, about 89 percent of the 2000 Rs notes were issued before March, 2017 and are now at the end of their lifespan of 4-5 years.
