Zomato, the leading food delivery service, revealed that an impressive 72% of cash on delivery users paid for their orders with INR 2,000 notes since Friday.
On Monday, Zomato tweeted, “since friday, 72% of our cash on delivery orders were paid in ₹2000 notes”.
The disclosure follows the recent announcement by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on May 19 regarding the phased withdrawal of INR 2,000 denomination notes from circulation by September 30. In response to the announcement, there has been a surge among Indians to dispose of their INR 2,000 currency notes.
Despite the ongoing withdrawal process, the central bank has clarified that INR 2,000 notes will remain as legal tender.
The RBI has also stated that the public has the option to deposit INR 2,000 banknotes into their bank accounts or exchange them for banknotes of different denominations at any bank branch.
On Twitter, users shared Zomato’s tweet and added their own perspectives. One user humorously commented, “Queuing up outside ATMs is so 2016.”
Another user tagged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and said, “@nsitharamanoffc, now you know where to look for all the rest of the missing 2000 rupees notes.”
Following the RBI’s announcement, Zomato playfully took a jab at the development, stating, “kids: exchange ₹2000 note at bank, adults: order cash on delivery and give ₹2000 note, legends: never had ₹2000 note”.
On November 8, 2016, during a televised address at 8 pm, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the demonetisation of INR 500 and INR 1,000 banknotes, effective from midnight. To replace these high-denomination notes, the central bank introduced the INR 2,000 banknote, necessitating banks to recalibrate their ATMs to accommodate the new size.
The central bank ceased printing INR 2,000 notes in 2018-19. The total value of INR 2,000 banknotes in circulation has decreased to INR 3.62 lakh crore, accounting for just 10.8% of the total notes in circulation as of the end of March. At its highest point in March 2018, the denomination’s total value in circulation reached INR 6.73 lakh crore.
