Indians have just five days to return about $3 billion worth of now-withdrawn Rs 2,000 notes.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ordered the withdrawal of the 2,000-rupee note on May 19, giving people until the end of September to exchange or deposit them with banks.
The RBI had then said the notes had been introduced in November 2016 to meet currency requirements following the withdrawal of legal tender of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes at that time. With that objective having been met once an adequate stock of notes of other denominations was made available, printing of Rs 2,000 notes was stopped in 2018–19, the central bank said. With the RBI having observed that the Rs 2,000 notes were not widely used for transactions, the central bank decided to withdraw the notes.
The total value of Rs 2,000 bank notes in circulation, which amounted to Rs 3.62 lakh crore as of March 31, had fallen to Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19.
By August 31, as much as 93 per cent or about Rs 3.56 trillion of Rs 2,000 currency notes that were in circulation on May 19 — the day when the currency was withdrawn from circulation — were returned to banks. This means that about 7 per cent, about $3 billion, of the withdrawn notes are still with the public as of September 1.
The RBI had earlier said that the notes will remain legal tender even after September 30, but they will not be accepted for transaction purposes and can only be exchanged with the RBI. The holder will also have to explain why the general deadline could not be met.
