No exchange, deposit Rs 2000 notes on Ram Temple consecration day: RBI

Half day for consecration: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced on Friday that the exchange and deposit facility for Rs 2,000 banknotes will not be available on January 22.

Ahead of the Ram Temple consecration in Ayodhya on Monday, the Government has announced a half-day closure for public sector banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, and regional rural banks.

“The facility of exchange/deposit of Rs 2,000 banknotes will not be available on Monday, January 22, 2024 at any of the 19 Issue Offices of the Reserve Bank of India due to the half-day closure announced by the Government of India,” RBI’s official communique today read. 

The facility will resume on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, it added.

Exchange Facility in Post Offices

Earlier this month, the central bank and regulatory body for Indian banks opened the exchange facility for Rs 2,000 notes through post offices as well, amid people queueing up outside its office in New Delhi to return the notes.

People can send the notes to issue offices from any post office, RBI said in a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on its website. 
The process involves filling up of an online application form and sending the withdrawn notes to an RBI issue office from any facility of India Post.

The notes were withdrawn in May last year, the apex bank announced its decision to withdraw the Rs 2,000 notes as most of these notes had exceeded their expected lifespan and were also not being used by the public for transactions.

The notes were first introduced after demonetisation on 8 November 2016.

Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes were removed from circulation at that time.