New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) declared a temporary suspension of Rs 2,000 note exchange or acceptance services at its 19 offices across the country, including Guwahati on April 1, due to the annual closing of accounts. The service will resume on April 2, as confirmed by the central bank.

The affected RBI issue offices, encompassing prominent locations such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, and Thiruvananthapuram, will not be entertaining transactions related to Rs 2,000 banknotes on April 1, 2024.

Since May 19 of the preceding year, individuals have been availing of the option to exchange Rs 2,000 notes at these designated RBI offices. Additionally, since October of the previous year, the RBI has allowed individuals and businesses to deposit Rs 2,000 notes into their respective bank accounts.

According to the RBI statistics, as of March 1, 2024, close to 97.62% of the Rs 2,000 notes introduced into circulation since May 19, 2023, have been reintegrated into the banking system. Initially valued at approximately Rs 3.56 lakh crore upon their introduction in 2018, the total value of these notes in circulation witnessed a significant decline to Rs 8,470 crore by February 29, 2024, aligning with the RBI's commitment to maintaining a clean note policy.

Furthermore, individuals have the alternative of dispatching these notes via India Post from any post office to any RBI issue office, facilitating the crediting of the equivalent amount to their respective bank accounts in India. Initially, the deadline for the exchange or deposit of these notes was set until September 30, 2023, which was subsequently extended to October 7, 2023. Subsequent to this extension, deposit and exchange services at bank branches were terminated on October 7, 2023. Since October 8, 2023, individuals have been empowered with the choice to either exchange the currency or opt for the equivalent value to be credited to their bank accounts at the 19 designated RBI offices.

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