RBI disposed 132.19 crore pieces of soiled Rs 2,000 notes in last 3 fiscals: Annual Report

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) disposed 132.19 crore pieces of soiled Rs 2,000 banknotes in the last three financial years, according to the central bank’s annual report.

The data further showed that the RBI disposed 48.24 crore pieces of soiled Rs 2,000 notes in FY23, 38.47 crore pieces in FY22, and 45.48 crore pieces in FY21.

As per the report, the disposal of soiled banknotes increased by 22.1 percent to 2,292.64 crore pieces during 2022-23, from 1,878.01 crore pieces in the previous year.

ALSO READ: Rs 2,000, Rs 500 notes in circulation accounted 87.9% as on March 31 in value terms: RBI Annual Report

In FY23, the central bank disposed 582.82 crore pieces of Rs 100 banknotes, which was the highest in that fiscal, followed by 510.92 crore pieces of Rs 500 banknotes, and 450.77 crore pieces of Rs 10 notes.

Moreover, During 2022-23, out of the total Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) detected in the banking sector, 4.6 percent were detected at the Reserve Bank and 95.4 percent at other banks.

Compared to the previous year, there was an increase of 8.4 percent and 14.4 percent in counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of Rs 20 and Rs 500 (new design), respectively.

The counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of Rs 10, Rs 100 and Rs 2,000 declined by 11.6 percent, 14.7 percent and 27.9 percent, respectively.

The Rs 2000 banknotes were in the news in the last few days after the RBI withdrew it from circulation. This was in pursuance of the “Clean Note Policy”, and it advised banks to stop issuing these notes with immediate effect.

Members of the public were asked to deposit Rs 2,000 banknotes into their bank accounts and/or exchange them for banknotes of other denominations at any branch.

The central bank asked banks to provide a deposit and exchange facility of Rs 2,000 banknotes until September 30, to complete the exercise in a time-bound manner and to provide adequate time to the members of the public.

“The facility for exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes up to the limit of Rs 20,000/- at a time shall also be provided at the 19 Regional Offices (ROs) of RBI having Issue Departments from May 23, 2023,” RBI said in a release.