The deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes of various denominations, including Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, has been extended by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for another six months till June, 30, 2015. The RBI has urged public to deposit the old design notes in their bank accounts or exchange them at a bank branch convenient to them.
The RBI has clarified that all such notes will continue to remain a legal tender. These notes can be exchanged for their full value, it added. Currency notes issued before 2005 do not have the year of printing on the reverse side. In notes issued post 2005, the year of printing is visible at the bottom on the reverse.
Post-2005 notes have added security features and help in curbing the menace of fake currency. The Reserve Bank has so far shredded 144.66 crore such notes valued at Rs 52,855 crore since the launch of the drive to take out the pre-2005 notes from the circulation.
