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FinMin decides not to extend Dec 15 deadline for use of old Rs 500 notes
You will not be allowed to use your old Rs 500 currency notes anymore after Thursday.
You will not be allowed to use your old Rs 500 currency notes anymore after Thursday. The government had allowed use of old notes of this denomination for buying medicines or paying utility bills until December 15. The deadline for the exemption will not be extended, the finance ministry said. People, however, will be able to deposit their old Rs 500 notes in their bank accounts till December 30.
“Exemptions for use of old Rs 500 notes will end on 15 December midnight,” Shaktikanta Das, secretary, department of economic affairs, tweeted on Wednesday.
Earlier, there were reports that the exemptions would be withdrawn on December 14.
Till Thursday, the old currency notes of Rs 500 can be used at government hospitals, pharmacies, railway ticketing counters, milk booths operating under authorisation of the central or state governments, for payment for LPG gas cylinders among others.
The NDA government, which announced the demonetization exercise on November 8, had allowed use of the defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes for utility bill payments for the first 72 hours. The deadline thereafter was extended a few times due to acute cash crunch. The use of Rs 1,000 notes for making payments, however, was discontinued on November 24.
As of December 10, old high currency notes of Rs 12.44 lakh crore have come back into the system.
