The Reserve Bank of India has extended the timeframe for the exchange of currency notes printed before 2005 by nine months. Now the notes, in denominations of Rs 500, Rs 1000, can be exchanged before 1 Janaury 2016. The central bank had earlier set the deadline on 1 April 2014. A release from RBI said it has also advised banks to facilitate the exchange of these notes for full value and without causing any inconvenience whatsoever to the public. Public can continue to freely use these notes for transactions and can unhesitatingly receive these notes in payment as all such notes remain legal tender, RBI said. Currency notes issued before 2005 do not have the year of printing on the reverse side. RBI had said the withdrawal of these notes is in conformity with the standard international practice of not having multiple series of notes in circulation at the same time. It said a majority of such notes have already been withdrawn through the banks and only a limited number of notes remain with the public. RBI governor Raghuram Rajan had earlier said the withdrawal was not an attempt at demonetisation, nor had it anything to do with the forthcoming general election. Mainly notes printed after 2005 have added security features and help in curbing the menace of fake currency.
