Chennai/New Delhi, May 19 (IANS): Announcing the decision to withdraw Rs 2,000 denomination notes from circulation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks not to issue such notes with immediate effect.

The central bank has also said the ATMs/Cash Recylers to be reconfigured accordingly.

It said banks may exchange Rs 2,000 banknotes up to a limit of Rs 20,000 (10 notes per account holder) at a time from an account holder so that the inconvenience to the public is minimised.

The facility for exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes shall be provided to all members of the public by all banks through their branches.

The RBI has given banks till May 23 to get ready to exchange the Rs 2,000 notes while deposits of the notes are accepted in usual manner.

Business Correspondents may also be allowed to exchange Rs.2,000 banknotes upto a limit of Rs 4,000 per day for an account holder. For this purpose, banks may, at their discretion, enhance the cash holding limits of BCs.

For providing deposit/exchange facility to people residing in remote/unbanked areas, banks may consider using mobile vans, if necessary, it said.

While crediting the value of Rs 2,000 notes to Jan Dhan Yojna Accounts/Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) Accounts, the usual limits will apply mutatis mutandis.

Banks holding Currency Chests (CCs) shall ensure that no withdrawal of Rs 2,000 denomination is allowed from the CCs. All balances held in the CCs shall be classified as unfit and kept ready for dispatch to respective RBI offices.

All banknotes in this denomination received by the banks shall be sortedimmediately through Note Sorting Machines (NSMs) for accuracy and genuineness and deposited in the currency chests under the Linkage Scheme or kept ready for dispatch to the nearest Issue Office of RBI.

The facility for deposit and/or exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes shall be available for members of the public up to September 30.

The banks shall also be required to comply with Cash Transaction Reporting (CTR) and Suspicious Transaction Reporting (STR) requirements, where applicable.