21/04/2015
Retire Your Old Notes
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Do you have bank notes that were printed before 2005?
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The deadline set by the RBI for withdrawing these old notes is nearing, after extension since early 2014.You have a little over two months, until June 30, 2015, before these notes go out of circulation. This withdrawal applies to notes in the denomination of 10, 20, 50,100, 500 and 1,000. Pre-2005 notes can be identified by looking on their reverse.
While all notes printed after 2005 have the year of printing marked in the lower half of the middle portion, this feature is absent in the notes printed before 2005.
Why the withdrawal?
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The main reason behind the withdrawal is that these older notes have poorer security features than the newer ones, enabling easier forgery.
Some of the additional security features of post-2005 notes include a floral design on the front left side showing the currency numeral when held against light and printing of the currency numeral in the centre with optically variable ink so that it appears green when held flat and blue when tilted (for ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes) .
What’s more, the number panels on the bottom and on the top right also glow when exposed to ultraviolet light. Besides this, genuine notes use ‘raised ink’ printing which can be felt, for instance, when touching the words ‘Reserve Bank of India’ on top or the currency value in Hindi letters in the centre.
Implications
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The withdrawal of these notes doesn’t mean that you cannot use them. All pre-2005 notes will continue to be legal tender. But banks will stop re-issue of pre-2005 notes over the counter or through ATMs. This way, it will help in curtailing the circulation of these notes to a trickle.
This is similar to the old Rs 1, Rs 2 and Rs 5 notes, which are still legal tender, but are rare to come by as they were similarly withdrawn a few years ago.
Due to this reason, although officially legal, they may not be readily acceptable in transactions now.
If you do happen to have/ receive a chunk of these pre-2005 notes, you have the facility to exchange them for newer notes with a bank before the June 30, 2015, deadline.
You need not be an account holder for any other services with a bank to get the notes exchanged. Anyone can walk into any bank. It is also not necessary to receive only cash in return from the bank.
If you so desire, you can request the amount to be credited to your bank account. The exchange facility is free of cost.
