The Reserve Bank of India said on 1st March that more than 97% of the Rs 2000 notes have been returned back since May 2023 and that Rs 2000 notes worth almost Rs 8,470 crores are still the public at large. It is to be noted that the Rs 2000 notes are still legal tender, even though the RBI announced the withdrawal of the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation.

In an official statement, the RBI shared how people can deposit and exchange ₹ 2000 banknotes. “The facility for exchange of the ₹2000 banknotes is available at the 19 Issue Offices of the Reserve Bank (RBI Issue Offices)1 since May 19, 2023. From October 09, 2023, RBI Issue Offices are also accepting ₹2000 banknotes from individuals/entities for deposit into their bank accounts. Further, members of the public are sending ₹2000 banknotes through India Post from any post office within the country to any of the RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts,” the RBI stated. These 19 RBI offices are in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna and Thiruvananthapuram.

Initially the deadline to exchange or deposit all the Rs 2000 notes was September 2023. However, the deadline was later changed to October 7 of the same year after which all exchange and deposit at bank branches was discontinued.

If one still has these notes and wants to exchange them or deposit an equivalent sum worth the notes into your account, they can still go to any of the 19 branches of RBI.

Offering further data, RBI also stated: “The total value of ₹ 2000 banknotes in circulation, which was ₹ 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, when the withdrawal of ₹ 2000 banknotes was announced, has declined to ₹ 8,470 crore at the close of business on Feb. 29, 2024.” The statement added, “Thus, 97.62% of the ₹2000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023, has since been returned. The ₹2000 banknotes continue to be legal tender.”

The Rs 2000 notes were introduced on 16th November 2016 when PM Modi announced the demonetisation of the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes and the release of new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes.

You might also be interested in - Tamil Nadu woman cheats people of lakhs with loan scam using RBI’s name and fake signatures