RBI to accept pre-2005 notes at select offices from today

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will facilitate the exchange of currency notes printed prior to 2005 from today, so that they do not remain in circulation. The central bank is pulling out the pre-2005 banknotes because of fewer security features compared to the notes printed after 2005.

The exchange will be facilitated through the RBI offices at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.

The RBI had in December 2015 set June 30, 2016 as the last date for public to exchange pre-2005 banknotes at the identified bank branches and Issue Offices of the Reserve Bank of India.

The Reserve Bank has also clarified that these pre-2005 banknotes will continue to remain legal tender. This is part of standard international practice to take out currency notes from multiple series remaining in circulation at the same time.