The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to withdraw Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation. While the currency will be legal tender, people have been given time till September 30, 2023, to surrender the notes to the bank. 

Starting from May 23, 2023, people will be allowed to exchange the Rs 2,000 notes for other denominations up to a limit of Rs 20,000. Alternatively, they can also be deposited in their bank accounts without any restrictions, but subject to compliance with extant Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and other applicable statutory requirements. 

While advising banks to stop issuing Rs 2,000 denomination notes immediately, the RBI has stated that the exchange will be available at 19 regional offices of RBI from May 23.

“The Rs 2,000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016 under Section 24(1) of RBI Act, 1934, primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after the withdrawal of legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes in circulation at that time. The objective of introducing Rs 2,000 banknotes was met once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities. Therefore, printing of 22,000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-19,” the RBI said in a statement.

It further said that the Rs 2,000 denomination note was not being used commonly for transactions and observed that other denominations were adequate to meet the currency requirement of the people.