GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
NEW DELHI

NOTIFICATION

Dated: November 8, 2016

S.O. 3407(E).- Whereas, the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India (hereinafter referred to as the Board) has recommended that bank notes of denominations of the existing series of the value of five hundred rupees and one thousand rupees (hereinafter referred to as specified bank notes) shall be ceased to be legal tender;

And whereas, it has been found that fake currency notes of the specified bank notes have been largely in circulation and it has been found to be difficult to easily identify genuine bank notes from the fake ones and that the use of fake currency notes is causing adverse effect to the economy of the country;

And whereas, it has been found that high denomination bank notes are used for storage of unaccounted wealth as has been evident from the large cash recoveries made by law enforcement agencies;

And whereas, it has also been found that fake currency is being used for financing subversive activities such as drug trafficking and terrorism, causing damage to the economy and security of the country and the Central Government after due consideration has decided to implement the recommendations of the Board;

Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 26 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934) (hereinafter referred to as the said Act), the Central Government hereby declares that the specified bank notes shall cease to be legal tender with effect from the 9th November, 2016 to the extent specified below, namely:-

1. (1) Every banking company defined under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949) and every Government Treasury shall complete and forward a return showing the details of specified bank notes held by it at the close of business as on the 8th November, 2016, not later than 13:00 hours on the 10th November, 2016 to the designated Regional Office of the Reserve Bank of India (hereinafter referred to as the Reserve Bank) in the format specified by it.

(2) Immediately after forwarding the return referred to in sub-paragraph (1), the specified bank notes shall be remitted to the linked or nearest currency chest, or the branch or office of the Reserve Bank, for credit to their accounts.

2. The specified bank notes held by a person other than a banking company referred to in sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 1 or Government Treasury may be exchanged at any Issue Office of the Reserve Bank or any branch of public sector banks, private sector banks, foreign banks, Regional Rural Banks, Urban Cooperative Banks and State Cooperative Banks for a period up to and including the 30th December, 2016, subject to the following conditions, namely:-

(i) the specified bank notes of aggregate value of Rs.4,000/- or below may be exchanged for any denomination of bank notes having legal tender character, with a requisition slip in the format specified by the Reserve Bank and proof of identity;

(ii) the limit of Rs.4,000/- for exchanging specified bank notes shall be reviewed after fifteen days from the date of commencement of this notification and appropriate orders may be issued, where necessary;

(iii) there shall not be any limit on the quantity or value of the specified bank notes to be credited to the account maintained with the bank by a person, where the specified bank notes are tendered; however, where compliance with extant Know Your Customer (KYC) norms is not complete in an account, the maximum value of specified bank notes as may be deposited shall be Rs.50,000/-;

(iv) the equivalent value of specified bank notes tendered may be credited to an account maintained by the tenderer at any bank in accordance with standard banking procedure and on production of valid proof of Identity;

(v) the equivalent value of specified bank notes tendered may be credited to a third party account, provided specific authorisation therefor accorded by the third party is presented to the bank, following standard banking procedure and on production of valid proof of identity of the person actually tendering;

(vi) cash withdrawal from a bank account over the counter shall be restricted to Rs.10,000/- per day subject to an overall limit of Rs. 20,000/- a week from the date of commencement of this notification until the end of business hours on 24th November, 2016, after which these limits shall be reviewed;

(vii) there shall be no restriction on the use of any non-cash method of operating the account of a person including cheques, demand drafts, credit or debit cards, mobile wallets and electronic fund transfer mechanisms or the like;

(viii) withdrawal from Automatic Teller Machines (hereinafter referred to as ATMs) shall be restricted to Rs.2,000 per day per card up to 18th November, 2016 and the limit shall be raised to Rs.4,000 per day per card from 19th November, 2016;

(ix) any person who is unable to exchange or deposit the specified bank notes in their bank accounts on or before the 30th December, 2016, shall be given an opportunity to do so at specified offices of the Reserve Bank or such other facility until a later date as may be specified by it.

3. (1) Every banking company and every Government Treasury referred to in sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 1 shall be closed for the transaction of all business on 9th November, 2016, except the preparation for implementing this scheme and remittance of the specified bank notes to nearby currency chests or the branches or offices of the Reserve Bank and receipt of bank notes having legal tender character.

(2) All ATMs, Cash Deposit Machines, Cash Recyclers and any other machine used for receipt and payment of cash shall be shut on 9th and 10th November, 2016.

(3) Every bank referred to in sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 1 shall recall the specified bank notes from ATMs and replace them with bank notes having legal tender character prior to reactivation of the machines on 11th November, 2016.

(4) The sponsor banks of White Label ATMs shall be responsible to recall the specified bank notes from the White Label ATMs and replacing the same with bank notes having legal tender character prior to reactivation of the machines on 11th November, 2016.

(5) All banks referred to in sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 1 shall ensure that their ATMs and White Label ATMs shall dispense bank notes of denomination of Rs.100 or Rs. 50, until further instructions from the Reserve Bank.

(6) The banking company referred to in sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 1 and Government Treasuries shall resume their normal transactions from 10th November, 2016.

4. Every banking company referred to sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 1, shall at the close of business of each day starting from 10th November, 2016, submit to the Reserve Bank, a statement showing the details of specified bank notes exchanged by it in such format as may be specified by the Reserve Bank.

[F.No.10/03/2016-Cy.I]

(Dr Saurabh Garg)
Jt. Secy.