The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the deadline for the deposit and exchange of Rs 2,000 currency notes till October 7.

From October 8, bank branches will stop accepting these notes and they will have to be deposited at the regional offices of the central bank.

However, people will be able to exchange and deposit the Rs 2,000 notes at RBI Issue Offices up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time, the RBI said in a statement.

The notes shall continue to be legal tender even after October 7.

The RBI had announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes from circulation on May 19. At that time, it had said people could deposit or exchange these banknotes till Saturday.

“As the period specified for the withdrawal has come to an end, and based on a review, it has been decided to extend the current arrangement for deposit/exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes until October 7, 2023,” the RBI said.

Out of the total value of Rs 3.56 lakh crore of Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, notes worth Rs 3.42 lakh crore — or 96 per cent of the notes issued — had returned to the banking system.

The RBI said individuals or entities from within the country can also send them through India Post, addressed to any of the 19 RBI offices for credit to their bank accounts in the country.

“Such exchange or credit shall be subject to relevant RBI/government regulations, submission of valid identity documents and due diligence as deemed fit by the RBI.

“Courts, law enforcement agencies, government departments or any other public authority involved in investigation proceedings or enforcement, may, as and when required, deposit/exchange Rs 2,000 banknotes at any of the 19 RBI Issue Offices without any limit,” the statement said.

The RBI did not fix the last date for the exchange of these notes. It merely said the facility for exchange or deposit at its 19 regional offices would be “available until further advice”.

The notes could lose their legal tender status after the last date.

After the withdrawal of these notes, the banking system witnessed a surge in deposits.

As a result, the central bank announced an incremental cash reserve ratio (I-CRR) in August to sequester a part of the funds and, thereby, regulate the liquidity in the banking system.

Earlier this month, it decided to withdraw the I-CRR in a phased manner.