Reserve Bank of India has told the general public to exchange currency notes in their possession, which were released prior to 2005 within a week. These currency notes do not have the year printed on the reverse. The notes can be exchanged at any bank branch. The public can eitehr exchange these notes at any bank branch counter or deposit them in their accounts before 30 June. The RBI clarified that the public can continue to use these notes for their transactions and need not hesitate to receive these notes in payment as all such notes continue to remain legal tender. “The notes are only being withdrawn from circulation and this withdrawal exercise is in conformity with the standard international practice of not having multiple series of notes in circulation at the same time,” the central bank said in a notification. The procedure to be followed after 30 June 2015, shall be communicated by RBI in due course, the notification said. The pre-2005 series of currency notes are being withdrawn since they possess fewer security features as compared to notes printed after 2005. Besides the security feature, the notes printed as part of the 2005 Mahatma Gandhi series have the year of printing on the reverse in the lower middle portion.
