As the deposit deadline approaches, ₹2,000 notes fade from the system

• The last RBI update says that 93% of the ₹2,000 notes are back with the central bank.
• The ₹2,000 notes were first introduced during the demonetisation exercise.
• The deadline to deposit the notes is on September 30, 2023.

With a couple of weeks to go before the deadline to deposit ₹2,000 banknotes, e-commerce giant Amazon has said that it has discontinued accepting them. Till now, many retailers along with e-commerce players, petrol pumps and even jewellers had generously started accepting these notes after RBI withdrew them in May, without banning them.

However, with the festive season upon us, fewer and fewer retailers will be accepting the mega note at shops and stores and most people with residual notes will have to hit banking channels to deposit them.

As of now, 93% of these notes accounting to ₹3.32 lakh crore are back with banks, said the latest RBI update on it, released in early September.

“Consequently, the value of ₹2,000 banknotes in circulation as at the close of business on August 31, 2023 stood at ₹24,000 crore,” read RBI’s statement.

Most of these notes had ended up with banks, which made the banking regulator come up with a temporary measure to mop up excess liquidity from the banks in its August 10 credit policy meeting update.

The RBI said that scheduled banks shall maintain an incremental cash reserve ratio (I-CRR) of 10%. The new measure had come into effect the fortnight starting August 12, and the RBI has already decided to withdraw ICRR in a phased manner.

The RBI first introduced the 2000 rupee note as part of the demonetisation exercise on November 8, 2016. Currently, this is the highest currency note in circulation. The note was introduced as the ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes were withdrawn from the system to boost currency circulation. Now, with the circulation problem a thing of the past, the note has been withdrawn.

Some history of updates

2017: The Indian central bank added a new security feature -- a fluorescent strip that glows green under ultraviolet light.

2018: RBI changed the design of the note with a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi on the front and a map of India on the back.

2019: Another security feature was added: a tactile strip that can be felt by people with visual impairments.