September 30 last date to submit Rs 2,000 notes, but no rush seen at banks

Bankers say most notes have returned to the system; some believe the RBI may extend the deadline.

While the deadline to exchange or deposit the withdrawn Rs 2,000 notes is just days away, bankers aren’t witnessing any rush in bank branches as most customers have already submitted their Rs 2,000 notes. “Currently, the daily run rate of deposit /exchange is very low. By the last week of September, there may be a spike in the amount,” said a senior official of South Indian Bank.

The RBI has set September 30, 2023, as the last date to deposit or exchange Rs 2,000 notes.

“I can say that there isn’t any rush and most conversions of Rs 2000 took place in the early stages when it was announced. Even then the process was quite seamless,” said Sanjay Sharda, Head of Consumer Banking, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank.

On May 19, the central bank announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency bills from circulation.

RBI to extend the deadline?

Some bankers said the central bank may extend the deadline for customers who couldn’t submit their Rs 2,000 notes by September 30.

“The RBI May probably come out with special dispensation for people who missed the time window. People who were abroad, who were not well etc. may have missed out. They may be given special dispensation to exchange the notes,” added the senior official from South Indian Bank cited earlier.

On September 1, the RBI said that Rs 3.32 lakh crore worth of Rs 2,000 banknotes, or 93 percent of these currency notes in circulation, had returned to the banking system. Consequently, Rs 2,000 notes in circulation at the close of business on August 31 stood at Rs 0.24 lakh crore.

State-owned UCO Bank had received over Rs 3,500 crore as of September 14. Out of this, the bank received Rs 500 crore for exchange and Rs 3,100 as deposits, according to numbers shared by the bank with Moneycontrol.

“Most Rs 2000 notes have come back to banks. We are witnessing Rs 3-4 crore daily return of notes in terms of Rs 2000,” said Ashwani Kumar, MD & CEO of UCO Bank.

City Union Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer N Kamakodi said that the bank has received a total of Rs 1,100 crore in Rs 2,000 notes. Of this, Rs 100 crore was for exchange, while Rs 1,000 crore had been deposited as of September 14.

South Indian Bank received Rs 1,239 crore worth of Rs 2,000 notes till September 12, Rs 207 for exchange, and Rs 1,031 in deposits.

The senior executive of the bank cited earlier said, "I doubt the RBI will extend the dates as most of the notes have already come back. However, there may be chances that the regulator will give some provisions for people who are abroad. Finally, it’s all up to the regulator".