Entire currency in circulation from Dec 31 legitimate: Jaitley
New Delhi, Dec 30: Asking the banks to report collections of demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on December 30 itself, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday notified the closure of the deposit and exchange of the old notes.
“With the closure of the facility of exchange of specified bank notes, all banks should report information on collection on December 30, itself. Banks should make arrangements to gather the information from all its branches accordingly,” the RBI said in a notification here.
From next week onward, those still holding the scrapped currency can deposit it only with the RBI till March 31, 2017.
All bank branches, except district cooperative central bank (DCCBs), which have accumulated old notes at the close of business on Friday, are required to deposit these in the office of the RBI or a currency chest on Saturday, the RBI said.
The old notes cannot form part of banks’ cash balances from the close of business as on Saturday, the central bank added.
However, DCCBs may retain the demonetised currency received between November 10-14, till further instructions.
The government had on November 8 announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes were no longer the legal tender. Meanwhile, Union Fince Minister Arun Jaitley said that from Saturday onwards, the entire currency in circulation will be legitimate, Friday being the last day to deposit the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in banks.
“With effect from tomorrow the entire currency in circulation would be legitimate,” Jaitley told reporters at a press briefing here on Friday.
From Saturday the legitimate currency that would continue to be legal tender is Rs 100 and other lower denomition notes along with the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has printed, he added. The ordince on old notes, that was approved by President Prab Mukherjee on Friday, calls for a pelty of Rs 10,000 or five times the amount of the demonetised notes held, whichever is higher, after March 31. (IANS)