Banks have collected Rs 12.44 trillion (Rs 12.44 lakh crore) in banned notes till December 10. Banks have issued notes valued at Rs 4.61 lakh crore to the public over the counter and ATMs after demonetization began, the RBI has said.

''RBI has also issued to the public through the banks and their branches a total of 21.8 billion pieces of notes of various denominations of which 20.1 billion pieces belonged to small denominations of Rs 10, 20, 50 and 100s and 1.7 billion belonged to higher denominations of Rs 2000 and Rs 500'', said R Gandhi Deputy Governor of RBI.

"The entire system is continuously gearing up for supporting the circulation of notes in the hands of the public. Daily, we are issuing more and more notes, getting it printed and issuing it and this will be a continuous affair. The public is requested to freely use the notes that they have in their hands rather than hoard it," Gandhi said.

Goodreturns.in