RBI on 2000 Rupee note: RBI to withdraw Rs 2,000 notes from circulation

The Reserve Bank of India has decided to withdraw the ₹2000 denomination banknotes from circulation but they will continue to remain as legal tender.

It has advised banks to stop issuing ₹2000 denomination banknotes with immediate effect. 

The ₹2000 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 ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes in circulation at that time.

“The printing of ₹2000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-19.About 89% of the ₹2000 denomination banknotes were issued prior to March 2017 and are at the end of their estimated life-span of 4-5 years.

The total value of these banknotes in circulation has declined from ₹6.73 lakh crore at its peak as on March 31, 2018 (37.3% of Notes in Circulation) to ₹3.62 lakh crore constituting only 10.8% of Notes in Circulation on March 31, 2023.

It has also been observed that this denomination is not commonly used for transactions," the statement further said.

Further, the stock of banknotes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public, RBI said

In view of the above, and in pursuance of the “Clean Note Policy" of the Reserve Bank of India, it has been decided to withdraw the ₹2000 denomination banknotes from circulation.

The banknotes in ₹2000 denomination will continue to be legal tender.

It may be noted that RBI had undertaken a similar withdrawal of notes from circulation in 2013-2014.

In order to ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, exchange of ₹2000 banknotes into banknotes of other denominations can be made upto a limit of ₹20,000/- at a time at any bank starting from May 23, 2023.