SBI Receives Rs 80,886 Crores in Rs 2,000 Notes Despite Withdrawal

1 Nov 2023 , 12:08 PM

State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest public sector lender, revealed that it received Rs 80,886 crores worth of Rs 2,000 notes until September 30, 2023, in response to an RTI query by Moneycontrol.

Out of this amount, Rs 14,079 crore were obtained through exchanges, and Rs 66,807 crore were deposited. SBI did not specify whether the notes were received from retail or business segments, stating that such information is not centrally available.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency bills from circulation on May 19, as part of its clean-note policy, and advised banks to cease issuing these notes immediately.

According to the RBI’s last release as of September 30, 2023, approximately 96 % of the Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation as of May 19, 2023, have been returned.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das expressed confidence on October 20 that the remaining Rs 2,000 notes would also be exchanged or deposited, with only Rs 10,000 crore remaining in the system.

Despite the deadline for exchanging the withdrawn notes at bank branches ending on October 7, the facility is still available at RBI offices, leading to long queues. A limit of Rs 20,000 per person is imposed for exchanging these notes.

Middlemen have capitalized on this opportunity, charging customers as much as Rs 400 per note for exchanging the Rs 2,000 notes, with individuals standing in queues on behalf of customers to exchange large quantities of these notes. Customers are willing to pay commissions to avoid standing in long queues multiple times.

For feedback and suggestions, write to us at [e-mail]