New Delhi: The State Bank of India (SBI) has informed all its branches that customers can exchange their existing Rs 2000 denomination currency notes upto a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time without obtaining any requisition slip. Also, no identity proof needs to be submitted during the time of exchanging the Rs 2,000 notes, the bank added.
A circular, dated May 20, in this regard was issued by the SBI to its branches. The SBI's circular has cleared doubts about the need for documents during exchanging the existing notes. There were also rumours circulating on the social media stating that one has to submit a form and identity proof.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced that Rs 2,000 notes would be withdrawn from circulation. It asked customers to deposit or exchange the existing notes at the bank branches till September 30. The RBI had stated that the exchange of the Rs 2,000 notes can be made upto a limit of Rs 20,000 at any bank from May 23 onwards. It stated that the Rs 2,000 notes would continue to be used in transactions but was advisable to either deposit or exchange them for other denominations within September 30.
Also Read: Explained: Reserve Bank’s powers and duties over currency management in India
The Rs 2,000 currency notes were introduced in November 2016 under Section 24(1) of the RBI Act, 1934 after Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were demonetised. The move was taken to address the currency requirements of the economy in an expeditious manner. The printing of the Rs 2,000 notes was stopped in 2018-19.
Sources said a major reason behind withdrawing the Rs 2,000 notes is that these are not usually used for transactions by the people. Moreover, there is an adequate stock of other denomination notes that can meet public demand.