Almost all the 500 and 1,000 currency notes that were made illegal in November 2016 have returned to the banking system, the RBI said on Wednesday, prompting the Opposition to question the efficacy of demonetisation in curbing black money. Banks received Rs 15.31 lakh crore, or 99.3 per cent of the '15.41 lakh crore worth Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in circulation on November 8, 2016, when the note ban was announced, it said.

This meant just Rs 10,720 crore of the junked currency did not return to the banking system as against initial estimates of about Rs 3 lakh crore would not return to the system as they may have been stashed away illegally to avoid tax.