Banks will not exchange pre-2005 notes from today, only 20 RBI offices will swap them

MUMBAI: Banks will no longer exchange notes introduced prior to 2005. From Friday , if anyone has such notes he would need to approach one of the 20 offices of the Reserve Bank of India directly to get such notes exchanged. However, there's a way out: If one has such notes, the person can deposit those notes in his bank account and the bank will send those notes to RBI.

Since January 2014, the RBI, through banks, has been withdrawing currency notes circulated prior to 2005. The central bank on Thursday said a large percentage of these notes have since been withdrawn, with only a small percentage still remaining in circulation. “On a review thereof, it has since been decided that July 1 onwards, the facility for members of public to exchange the pre-2005 notes will be available only at the following offices of RBI: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi,“ a release from the RBI said.

The RBI has also clarified that these pre-2005 bank notes will continue to remain legal tender, meaning people can use these notes just like other notes which were printed and circulated since 2005.