The chakra system is used and is there to be used. For a long time no one actually put that much emphasis on it because matches tend to end much sooner than you can run out of chakra. Mistakes or simply death, tends to come first than chakra depletion.
The system is used and has never been removed. Each technique has a chakra cost, each rank gives you a given chakra pool. Each technique that sucessfully happens, decreases your chakra.